By Fortunata Kitokesya (@fortunatak)
Step by step, I carry myself through the jungle’s dense darkness,
Fear fills the hollow of my crumbling hope,
Like a thunderous storm, unseen terror overtakes me,
Blocking my path, my hope flickers and fades.
My eyes strain, pierce the suffocating blackness,
Wild, fearful, horrific, despairing, chaotic,
The darkness spreads like a deer in panicked flight,
Its power swift and untamed.
Who rules this jungle? Who controls its shadows?
What drives the jungle to run wild, ruthless, aghast?
Who stretches a cruel hand behind this nightmare,
The nightmare that claims the jungle as its home?
Each day a new battle; tomorrow brings uncertainty,
Survival is never promised in the jungle’s cruel embrace,
Venomous snakes and silent scorpions lie in wait,
Complacency is the key to falling in the jungle’s labyrinth.
The mighty are ravaged, consumed by the darkness,
Their fire sputters, lost, as the jungle deafens them,
Swallowed by the jungle’s cheers, they suffer in isolation,
Their power fading, their spirits broken.
Yet against the scarred darkness, the spirit of the mighty shall rise,
Bravery in their hearts will conquer the night,
The jungle will crystallize, pure as water falling from a mountain,
Hope anchors them, faith guides them, and resolve will see them through.
They will emerge, battered but unbroken, into the dawn’s embrace,
The jungle’s darkness forever banished by their inner light.
In a time when power casts long shadows, this poem traces the journey through fear, oppression, and the stubborn hope that refuses to die.