"Retreat"

"Retreat" 
By: Brendan Cadman


They scoured the face of the earth on,
bloody feet and tired backs,
combing different lands for a suitable kingdom.
Inside of walls high and strong,
profitable in lush green vegetation,
a fortress to protect them and call their own.
Sanctuary unveiled at the base of a great hill,
a vibrant town began to take shape brick by brick,
soon too a great wall was constructed to keep out the wild. 
Amidst the tantalizing scent of prosperity,
the wolves eventually wandered closer and closer,
tearing and chewing through the wall,
sending the town retreating further up the hill.
In due course the town settled and rebuilt,
moreover the wall of timber grew higher and wider,
likewise tranquility again coursed through the people's veins.
Withal upon discovery of the town unlike their own,
foreign invaders set their sights on the wall,
scaling and toppling with ease and set to plunder.
Fearing losing all they had,
the town retreated up to the top of the hill,
disillusioned by relinquishing their home they had built.
At the top of the hill they constructed the wall a final time,
abandoning the tether and timber that failed to stand,
praying sturdy stone and resilient steel would hold resolute. 
The skies darkened and the gray clouds brought the rain,
as the flood waters seeped and poured through the cracks, 
and threatened to wash everything away. 
Now when the town looked to retreat for a final time,
they realized they were caught between the flood,
and the edge of the cliff,
with nowhere to run except into the dark and deep abyss.