Footprints Poem by Vanessa Brown

Trudging through a crystal encrusted blanket of cotton snow,
A solitary light casts a prism of sparkles;
Surrounding, consuming, but i remain dark and dull,
I look back and see my footprints.

Why does the light shine all around?
I reach out an eager hand to touch,
But the light fades in my palm.
My worn and weary body absorbs the light,
But radiates not so much.

You were my fire, my sparkle, my flame,
And when i gazed into your soulful, profound eyes,
My face broke into a smile of hope and desire,
But you turned away.

Your kind eyes made me tremble
in the very depths of love and roots of desire,
But the shutters fell with a tap that echoed in my ears
Like the deafening roar of a thousand lions.
My flame died.

I see you, at your best; I see your infinite love
of problematic youths.
I see you, at your worst; i see your hostile eyes,
That peruse my face with putrid disdain.

And i stand in the middle of a room
Trapped in a whirlpool of emotion,
In the inescapable prison of my mind,
Screaming a torrent of pain...

But no-one looks.

I look at you, and my heart sinks,
As realization sets in.
And knowing that your gentle heart
Will never bestow upon me words that embody the kindness within.

I look back at my footprints:
They've faded away.