shodden feet

I pass through darkness with every fretful step,
Horrid sounds surround—the beat of life’s regret.
I grope and stumble, hands flailing in the night,
Memories of unfeigned love refuse to leave my sight.
Oh, how I wish for another life, a time of my own design,
Yet I’m caught in a maze of doubt and hatred, never truly mine.
Still, I press onward, my path never seeming quite clear,
Over death, over fear, persecution always near.
Confusion swirls in this place where no soul I meet,
My wayward journey bound by prisoned shodden feet.
I drag these weary soles, heavy with defeat,
Longing to escape the echo of my shodden feet.
I tug and pull as my spirit strains to be free,
Shackled by shadows of the mirrored, broken me.
Yet deep inside, a stubborn ember starts to glow,
A whisper of hope rising, refusing to let go.
Though the way is tangled and the night is long,
I’ll forge ahead, determined, fierce and strong.
No matter how lost, I will not accept retreat--
I will find my dawn, even on these broken shodden feet.