Dark Stairway Poem by Barry Middleton

there is a stairway only I can climb
without a light in darkness and alone
although I know that peace is waiting there
beyond a gate that must remain unknown

I cannot see the bottom or the top
behind me lies a cherished memory
the future is a veiled imagining
ahead this blindness hides a mystery

I grope with just despair to light my way
although I pray to touch a guiding hand
I climb bereft of grace and filled with fear
perhaps to find my goal an empty land

I pause in wonder of this hopeless quest
still I have reached a shelter where I wait
and there is nowhere else for me to go
so here I rest till light reveals my fate