Dark Stairway

there is a stairway only I can climb without a light in darkness and alone although I know that peace is waiting there beyond a gate that must remain unknown I cannot see the bottom or the top behind me lies a cherished memory the future is a veiled imagining ahead this blindness hides a mystery I grope with just despair to light my way although I pray to touch a guiding hand I climb bereft of grace and filled with fear perhaps to find my goal an empty land I pause in wonder of this hopeless quest still I have reached a shelter where I wait and there is nowhere else for me to go so here I rest till light reveals my fate