Here is another I came across in the journal where I had written the poems in my previous post. The guy I was with on the trip turned violent and in a world that had not yet invented the term "domestic abuse", I was really lost for awhile.

The Road Taken

I wandered down a path of love,
Skipping light and gay,
And found myself running headlong,
To keep the wolves at bay.

I fell into a quicksand trap
And struggled to get free,
Calling vainly for some help;
The demons laughed at me.

I stumbled on along my way,
There was no turning back,
Until I lost the light of day,
And everything was black.

I found myself engulfed by thorns,
And fell down to my knees.
Oh, God, please help me out of here!
No voice answered my pleas.

I wept until my eyes were dry,
From all the cold and pain,
And then as if the heavens saw,
They showered me with rain.

A cloud-grey dawn filled up the sky,
The day hung like a curse,
Because - as I sat wondering why,
In the light it all looked worse.

Well, I guess that is depressing, isn't it, but at least it was 1978 when I wrote it, a long time ago. I can still remember the night when these words started running through my head and I had to get up and write them down. It was part of my realization that I had to get out of that situation in order to survive. At least people have more resources to turn to now and more understanding of domestic violence.

-alice (who didn't mean to put a damper on this thread... meet me over at Mudcat campfire #2)