Reprieve

Sometimes in life,
From out of the muck,
Comes a clean stepping stone
And you rise up, unstuck.

It must be a mirage
You imagine, at first;
And you breathe in the air
‘Til your lungs want to burst.

You step gingerly out,
See the life all around;
You can hardly believe
You’re on solid-packed ground.

You’ve been mired for so long,
You don’t know how to act;
So you follow the paths
Those before you have tracked.

Soon your confidence builds
And you start to branch out.
You make plans in advance,
Though you’re riddled with doubt.

Days go by, maybe weeks,
And you start to believe
That this happiness might
Not be just a reprieve.

So you nurture that hope;
Add some sticks to the flame.
Chase those omens away
Back the way that they came.

You most foolishly trust,
And you let down your guard;
So when muck reappears,
You step into it, hard.

And then you are back
In the bog, out of luck,
‘Cause life passes you by
When you’re stuck in the muck.