No Boat

"The road to the Abbey is impassable,"
or so we are told by the fractious Enchantress,
but I will not speculate on motive
to get you all aboard like bilge rats –
words like ‘impress’ and ‘shanghai’
come to mind.
It matters not, as it is my calling
to walk this journey in baby steps,
and feel the caress of giggly ferns,
and listen to the wisdom of the stones,
and weep with the sunset –
and will not be denied.
What will I meet that others consider
"impassable?"
Torrential streams or wandering boulders?
Crevasse or pinnacle or uproot tree?
Bring them on – and on again,
for I am nothing
if not quested to walk where others dread.
My broken body tells of this –
each step racked with pain,
but along the way I will find a stranger
who would parish if I did not pass this way.
and pass I will,
for the Abbey is my special home,
and Cher-lynn awaits --
and there is the Lantern to care for
when you brigands arrive.