Small Steps Forward

I write fiction about hopefulness and determination. About heroines who punch through extraordinary situations and obstacles, one step at a time. 

Today I’m really pleased to turn my blog over to a friend of mine, Graeme Kneale. He writes fantasy and science fiction prose and biting poetry, this is his latest work.

Small Steps Forward

Trapped in a cyclone
A never ending storm 
Of thoughts and imprisoning fears 
My mental self feels torn

It’s just one step so 
Why can’t I take it boldly 
Why have all these cares 
One foot in front of the other 
Moving to a future almost coldly 
Trying to hold against the stares

Okay so I make mistakes 
A black belted master of epic fail 
But sometimes it feels karma asks too much 
Where once I was strong as rock now I feel just shale

I fear by moving forward sometimes 
That I’m betraying things past 
And what’s the point in seeing dreams in the light 
When life rips them away so fast It’s like being shown the jackpot 
When you only won the consolation prize 
You know to see it brings more pain 
And yet you can’t avert your eyes

Stuck with so many questions 
Who, what, when, where or why 
Imprisoned behind fears and indecisions 
As time relentlessly passes by 
It’s like the road in front is deathly darkest black 
And I’m trying to drive while looking behind 
Frightened by all the might be’s that may come to pass

But I know I can’t stay here much longer
Cause I start to feel like a shade 
Passing through an existence neither alive nor dead 
As the sun ticks by the days 
So I guess I better do something 
Cause I don’t want to fade

Put one foot in front of the other till I’m off the plank 
And swallowed into the unknown waves 
Stop looking behind myself and swim like hell for the shore 
Cause it isn’t till we build a tomorrow 
That we are safe from the pains that have come before

Sunrise by nigelhowe on Flickr (cc)

GAK 2013.

Thank you Graeme! 

What do you think? Do you agree it’s too easy to trap ourselves in a mental cyclone. Too easy to let fears, doubts and regrets hold us in a place we don’t want to be. I know it doesn’t matter how big I dream, if I don’t take one small step after the other I won’t reach my goals.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments 🙂

Gargoyle Smile

Image via Wikipedia

Walk with me in the moonlight
crunching along gravel paths
skipping over clumps of moss
past fallen angels and crumbling Madonnas
unfurl your wings and stretch out your claws
leap from broken stones to crumbling mausoleums
breathe deeply the damp air of decay and neglect.

Lift up your wings and soar over forgotten tombs
around and up, looping and diving
then landing at my side
for me to clamber onto your back
and nestle in my special place
between your wings
before climbing again
into the crisp night air.

Fly with me above ancient forests and oceans
under the moon and infinite galaxies
past ruined castles on lonely hilltops
and rat-race cities eased into once pristine bays
eyes gleaming, smile untwisted, this is our time
our time until the rising sun calls us back
to our prisons of stone and wood.