The First Step Poem by Natalie Jane Boyle

The stars shine deep into my eyes,
As I stand on my own two feet.
These will be the first steps I ever take
As sunlight climbs over the snow covered mountains.
One single woman, I face, who is armed,
Steel, plastic, aluminium.
Not even the most beautiful blanket
Could hide the pain attached to this weapon,
Which is smirking in front of me.

The wall which divides me, from it,
Is nothing more than a string of daisies,
Yet it has been around since the beginning of time
And will remain until the end of time.
It is not real,
That which lurks on the opposite side,
It never has been
And it never will be.

Cast out from the brightest part
Of the hottest hole
In the dirtiest part of the fire,
It's a machine,
Led to believe that the entire world needs it.
It sits to keep its existence,
It lives to help.
Born with strength and determination,
It dies with ego-mania

Power is what it lives on,
Food, comfort, love is nothing to it.
Just knowing how many paralysed lives
It has shattered
Satisfies its hunger.

It is now time for me.
The dawn is nearing
As the sun rises high up ahead,
Dark clouds disappear above me,
Sucking my fear away with them.

Day murmers comforting words
As I rise into sunlight.
The single woman guides me,
Towards the menacing machine,
But soon she lets go,
Leaving me to wander helplessly
To the end of the wall.
And then, as I reach my degrading destination,
Shaking and stumbling,
I turn my back
And stride into the horizon,
Leaving behind my taunting wheel-chair.