Breadcrumbs

by Samantha McIntire

There is a war

Not of might

Nor of magic

Yet a war nonetheless

Dark clouds cover

The sky by day

Yet the stars shine bright

On these long dark nights

A fire burns

In a hearth of stone

Yet snow blankets the land

Far and wide

The fire inside

An amulet of protection

Yet, beyond its reach

The wolves snarl and bite

Their fur grey and white

The sky and land

Their howls cold and hungry

A piercing biting wind

Breadcrumbs left

In a dark forest at night

Each crumb

Nourishing as a loaf

When darkness threatens

To swallow and devour

Another crumb found

Feeding this fire inside

The lost and lonely pilgrim ponders

Is the overgrown path

Still worth following

Is turning back still an option

In too deep

Can’t touch the bottom

Land recedes

Only a fading memory

Another crumb found

Held aloft

A holy sacred relic

And the fire still burns