A Frozen Land

[Dracavis]

As I wandered a frozen waste my hands did quiver and my bones did shake.
My flesh flaked dry and my eyes began to darken.
I felt so warm, so peaceful, yet I knew what I felt was false.
I could've moved forward, but eternal sleep sounded so much better.
Here in the limbo of my mind, I was petrified.

Feelings of nihilistic pessimism washed over me and I stared into an abyssal void.
No reason to be found, no purpose to be had, a lone wander I was now lost in despair and hopelessness.
It is very enticing to shut oneself down and embrace nothingness.
How easy it is to give in to the desire to sleep and lay down all your worries.
Yet in those weakest moments of self worth, one might be given a chance or remember a motto of old.
For it is we who shape our worlds around us and give the purpose to our lives.
Even if that only purpose is to keep on living for as long as one may live.
We struggle because we create a struggle, it is struggling that makes us stronger and more resilient.
Through struggle we can find great inspiration and new avenues of exploration.
We may be faced with a struggle that will overwhelm us and still decide to walk towards it.
For until one is struggling most challenges will be met with ignorant bliss.

Before me an old man walked through a brambled bush, he carved his way until he reached the next treacherous path.
He knew he needed to rest and so he shut his eyes and slept at the end of his trail. One day I ventured forth into the same very bush,
my walk was a little easier thanks to the old man and I reached where he ended and began my journey through the next section of the wicked woodland.
I continued onwards through the brambles and over the pitfalls. I asked myself how did such an old man come so far through these vile lands.
He never got to see the new trees and wildlife in this part of the forest yet he still moved forward through his dull and dangerous quest.
I thought to myself I could quit this journey now and just rest here, it will matter not.
Yet then I remembered how I came across the bush and how I ventured forth without a care in the world.
What if another should walk down this path, should I let them struggle as I have and let this cursed land take them as well.
No I must push forward I thought to myself, if I clear a long enough trail maybe they will see the Old Man's and my work done.
So continued onward not knowing when it would be my time to stop, yet it matter not, for my heart burned with renewed vigor for my dreams of a brighter day.

Lost but not forgotten who finds the key to the door at the edge of the world...
Dare they open it to see what is on the other side or do they decide to hide it away from the world to be forgotten once again?

[Redbeck]

Dracavis, that is a beautifully crafted piece of prose, yours I'm assuming as it's not attributed?

The final 'edge of the world' line piqued my interest in just how many poetic works used this phrase as a point of reference, here are but a few that grabbed my attention, there is just so much knowledge out there to gather I keep frenetically peeping at my pocket watch, anyway 'Just get in the car Alice and I'll explain on the way'.......

Redbeck

Edge of the World by Shel Silverstein

Columbus said the world is round?
Don’t you believe a word of that.
For I’ve been down to the edge of the world,
Sat on the edge where the wild wind whirled,
peeked over the ledge where the blue smoke curls,
And I can tell you, boys and girls,
the world is FLAT!

THE EDGE OF THE WORLD - Brian Inder
Far North West Coast Tasmania

'I cast my pebble onto the shore of Eternity
To be washed by the Ocean of Time
It has shape, form and substance.
It is me
One day I will be no more
But my pebble will remain here
On the shore of Eternity
Mute witness for the aeons
That today I came and stood
At the edge of the world.'

The Edge of the World [excerpt] by Adonis

'I release the earth and I imprison the skies. I fall down in order to stay faithful to
the light, in order to make the world ambiguous, fascinating, changeable, dangerous, in
order to announce the steps beyond.
The blood of the gods is still fresh on my clothes. A seagull’s scream echoes
through my pages. Let me just pack up my words and leave.'