Conquering Element Poem by Joshua Mapp

In the ethereal white darkness past twilight
The growl of the wind rushed to his ears.
Trees buckled, bent in the sway of the fierce storm.
The twist of the roving watch light cut
A path through the blinding rage of the elements.
He trudged wearily through thick coldness
That rose to his knees.
Burdened by a bulging bag strapped over slumped shoulders
Wrapped inside a coat of ice, his breath
Shuttered from his broken lips.
To fall as snowflakes before him.

Ahead

In the blur of drowsiness, solitude beckoned.
High on the unseen cliffs,
Inside the creaking old lighthouse a solemn
Dim orange glow radiated through the room.
A woman sat chilled to her seat with worry
For a man gone, return unknown.
Her blue eyes gazed over the children hugging
Each other warm before the popping embers
In the limestone hearth.
Against the stone rested the weight of a
Single log poised with fending off the piercing cold.

Outside

The man fell to the arctic powdered earth.
His head touched the cold pillow of his final bed.
He gave out a hollowed cry of anguish and hatred
For the conquering blizzard that tucked him to sleep.
A glacial dark numbing consuming sleep from which
Not a soul could rouse from.
He slipped into oblivion becoming the man gone.