Darkness On The Edge of Town

FIVE OF PENTACLES

"Everybody's got a secret Sonny
Something that they just can't face
Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it
They carry it with them every step that they take
Till some day they just cut it loose
Cut it loose or let it drag 'em down
Where no one asks any questions
Or looks too long in your face
In the darkness on the edge of town"*

~ ~ ~

One thing always leads to another, and they seem to have to run their course. I wanted to get away from the old man on the hill, who turned his back on everyone and everything. So I walked, and headed toward the edge of town and I saw a darkness there that near broke my heart. A couple, maybe once, but now so far gone that they didn't even know the other was there. What crippled them more wasn't physical, no. It was the emotional desolation born of sucking the marrow out of dead bones, feeding the fear and depression that were leeching every ounce of energy that was left. And right behind them, a sanctuary, where they could get a warm blanket and a hot meal, but they didn't see. The light was caught in the black hole of the Nothingness that had nibbled away at their souls. Yes, I could give them a fist full of dollars, even point the way to the doors of this oasis in the desert of their despair, but they wouldn't see it. It's true, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink, or even see the life saving liquid.

[First Impression] Pain lives here, sadness, misfortune. It's drab, dark, dreary, where sickness and destitution grow, in a cold and unfeeling world. There is loss (of self and others) and loneliness.

[Image] The scene takes place outside a Sanctuary, of some sort. There are two shells of what might have once been substantial people. They likely were a couple, but now, don't even notice each other. There is great pain and misfortune. It is the winter of their discontent, and the sanctuary is closed, or there is no obvious way inside. They have reached that point in degradation when all awareness of helping themselves and each other, or even understanding that they can, is gone, like dust in the wind.


*song for Five of Pentacles: Darkness On The Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen