Edge Guarding

Dark mist surrounds completely
with only the mid-air droplets themselves
making themselves apparent.

A presence is there, directly in front
which seems real enough
but which could be fear itself, without form.

Suddenly, the darkness is split
by a lashing motion toward,
ripping through the vapor silently.

The impulse to jump back,
too reactive to have formed out of terror,
stiffens whatever members do not retract in an instant,

So close behind the jump
that it is almost hidden by it
except for the sting that lingers sore,

A hand comes forward
from some close but hidden place
with the force of a mare's kick
across my reddened cheek.

To feel for blood
is all that can be done
to check for a wound in the blindness of the night.

Present wetness of the cheek
fails the slippery test that blood would pass
against facial skin under the fingertips past.

The ooze of logic leaks within
against the haunting possibility
of a second strike of similar force,

A strike for which there is no defense
should it come again
without a whirring or sign of shifting mist.

The feel of evil so many times
piercing into this pilgrim's midriff,
with the shield lowered without proper regard,

Caused far less hurt
and much greater injury
each of so many instances
in which it passed my way uninvited.

And so a wondering has begun
to futilely overrun the mind
with desire as to the attacker's identity.

But no great quest is necessary
when only one possibility exists,
contradictory and strange as it may be,

That it was Goodness
that bit down hard
as to break the skin in violence.

Only love unadulterated could strike
with such great power
together with overpowering gentleness.

Uplifting truth in the mist
delivering a crack to remember clearly
so obviously rooted in omnipotence.

It must be a fault of mine own
once again denied in the dark tangles of pride,
once again wandering toward the cliff's edge
that I seem always so senselessly to wander near

without a plausible excuse
without a stick that a blind man would use to feel an edge
without a chute or rope or helmet or hope.