INTO THE ABYSS

In the '80s I did a poetry workshop with the late poet Gwendolyn MacEwen. She was brilliant and intense. So much so that I didn't write poetry for a long time for fear that I would sink

Out of confusion comes a light
further on the road ahead
than I had thought to travel.
A guiding light, or a warning
sight of you inspires me 
to venture on the untrodden path.
Ahead, the black abyss beckons
with uncertain promise.
My body, willing to accede, stops,
distorts, teeters on the brink
Held back by doubting mind,
resisting the awful unknown.
Fear and bias tear the joy apart
if truth could be obscured.
But your ray still shines
across the deep abyss.
And knowing you have travelled there, 
I will surely follow.