Feeling the Sunshine, Spring 2020
An EHS Student Special Feature Publication
Linger
by Mary Jordan
The setting sun bathes the earth in a pink
light
Distant beams of color that never land
upon me
Dawn shimmers above me, a peaceful
collage of warmth
But that warm light never seems to touch
my skin
I linger here
These muddy walls sealing me in
I see the sun
I know it is there
I cannot reach its warmth
I cannot return to the surface
My fingernails are crusted with cool soil
Humiliating marks of my previous
attempts
To climb up and away
From my earthen prison
My own escape fantasy
Is more fantastical than it seemed
I don’t bother trying any longer
I watch quietly from afar
I can’t return
I can’t
I can’t
I can’t
I want to
I yearn to
It is no longer worth the effort
To cry out for help
For sixteen days and sixteen nights of such
Never proved to be of use
Many others are still trapped
I wonder if they have done the same as I
Writhing
Yearning
Staring up at the clouds
They cannot reach
The sunrise is beautiful
I am stuck in a pit
I had already found the light
I wish I had not taken it for granted
Only now do such things
Become apparent
The sunrise is beautiful
I am stuck in a pit
Waiting for someone to throw the rope.