as the sound
of your footsteps
gets ever lighter,
my grip upon you
grows even tighter.

we walk together
upon a tightrope..
upon a thread of light.
after each step we take
we sway together..
oscillating left and right.
always a single misstep away..
from a mortal fall.
we take our steps together..
ready to risk it all.

you walk behind me..
following my lead..
but always out of my sight.
existing merely as a phantom..
a refraction of your essence
scattered through my mind.
you are an echo..
heard without a sound.
and I am so afraid to lose you..
but I am even more afraid
to turn around.

I blindly grope my way
to our freedom..
but the strength in me
is running out..
because when our faith
is silent..
the weight of painful silence
felt by me..
becomes excruciatingly loud.

when I finally succumb to it
and turn around,
I’ll either see you absent..
or I will see you there..
or I will see you
taken from me forcibly..
dragged by The Devil
to the very depths
of Hades.
into our very own..
personal.. living hell.