Was I Ever Alone?

Where was the beginning and where was the end?

No sign of an enemy, no sign of a friend.

My eyes saw the view till earth and sky blended

A road stood waiting, a path that never ended.

The sun was ablaze and the silence was still

My heart nursed a fear that my mind wished to kill.

A lone steady traveller, my life was a ride

Road led to road, and stride led to stride.

But the great sea of sand that mocked me with glee

The Great African Sahara that urged me to flee.

T’was a journey I dreaded in the depths of my heart

I saw a morbid end even before I could start.

I prayed to the skies, I looked at the ground

I walked with my shadow, which by midday had drowned.

My gait was so slow, my thoughts were so fast

My footsteps imprinted a journey so vast.

The horizon was endless, the terrain unknown

My fears were so many, and I was alone.

Four days had just passed, each day seemed a year

I thought I had come far, but the end didn’t seem near.

The weather so scathing, my actions so mild

No forest, no animals, but this was the wild.

The sandstorms did roar and the howling winds moan

Not a creature in sight, and I was alone.

A fortnight flew by, as I crawled along

My morale so weak, my fears so strong.

No companion to talk to, no words to express

I felt like a pawn in a great game of chess.

A feast was awaited, of my flesh and bone

The vultures were hovering, and I was alone.

The vast golden desert, an ocean of sand

No sign of the living on this arid land.

On the twentieth day, when my throat was so dry

I saw an oasis, a sight for a sore eye.

I walked to the spot, it vanished from zone

The mirages were countless and I was alone.

On the thirtieth day, a month had gone by

Perceptions had changed, to live was to die.

My eyes were so tired, my mind was so dead

I didn’t see immediately where my footsteps had led.

My homeland stood waiting, the sight made me moan

The end of my journey that I had walked alone.

‘Tis twelve long years since that arduous ordeal

Time is a miracle, can kill and can heal.

Yet oft, when I’m idle and relive the past

A small lurking doubt is persistently cast.

A doubt that awoke me night after night

It urged me to see things in a different new light.

In a desert where no creature, no life was alive

How was it possible that I did survive?

When death just kept pouncing, how did I escape?

With each lucky chance, my journey took shape.

A divine power had come to my aid

Someone had blessed me when I had not even prayed.

Was no one with me, had I really walked alone?

A fool would say yes, but my mind had long known

That every moment when my heart had felt scared

When my hopes were shattered, when my fears were flared,

Someone stood standing behind me all while

And gently guided me mile after mile.

The more I think, the more I see

The truth that had so far deluded me.

Someone had silently walked with me there

Someone had helped me when help seemed so rare.

So obvious in hindsight, how could I have not known

That God had walked with me, I WAS NEVER ALONE.