In the ethereal white darkness past twilight <br /> The growl of the wind rushed to his ears. <br />Trees buckled, bent in the sway of the fierce storm. <br /> The twist of the roving watch light cut <br />A path through the blinding rage of the elements. <br /> He trudged wearily through thick coldness <br />That rose to his knees. <br /> Burdened by a bulging bag strapped over slumped shoulders <br />Wrapped inside a coat of ice, his breath <br /> Shuttered from his broken lips. <br />To fall as snowflakes before him. <br /> <br />Ahead <br /> <br />In the blur of drowsiness, solitude beckoned. <br /> High on the unseen cliffs, <br />Inside the creaking old lighthouse a solemn <br /> Dim orange glow radiated through the room. <br />A woman sat chilled to her seat with worry <br /> For a man gone, return unknown. <br />Her blue eyes gazed over the children hugging <br /> Each other warm before the popping embers <br />In the limestone hearth. <br /> Against the stone rested the weight of a <br />Single log poised with fending off the piercing cold. <br /> <br />Outside <br /> <br />The man fell to the arctic powdered earth. <br /> His head touched the cold pillow of his final bed. <br />He gave out a hollowed cry of anguish and hatred <br /> For the conquering blizzard that tucked him to sleep. <br />A glacial dark numbing consuming sleep from which <br /> Not a soul could rouse from. <br />He slipped into oblivion becoming the man gone.<br /><br />Joshua Mapp<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/conquering-element/
