My light and my life  
provided me hope for a future,  
a reason to live  
and the strength to exist.  

Suddenly extinguished,  
taken away without warning.  
I was abandoned,  
left in the darkness  
trying to survive  
searching for any glimmer  
on the distant horizon.  

I stand precariously  
on a piece of solid ground  
barely large enough for my feet.  
Around me, a vast expanse  
of desolation and emptiness  
for as far as I can tell.  

It waits  
with extending arms  
to engulf and surround me  
in a permanent shadow.  

I remain tenuously balanced  
on this small bit of solid footing  
Providing me the last vestiges of hope,  
Unsure where to turn  
or how to find an escape.  

No path in sight,  
it has decayed into the abyss.  
No light to guide my footsteps,  
it has been withdrawn.  

In complete blackness  
I close my eyes  
waiting to fall.  

A light appears before me  
no,  
from within me.  

I discover  
a brilliance inside  
An internal source of strength, power  
and illumination.  

This force surges through my body  
filling me with courage.  
I open my eyes once more in the darkness  
finally lose my balance,  
and descend  
into the eternal night.  

But in falling, I discover  
that I possess wings.  

With new courage, my own light,  
and wings to save me  
from the everlasting darkness  
I take flight  
high above the waiting chasm  
towards a faint glimmer  
far on the horizon  
and hope.