The Valley

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,darkness is trailing me and tracing my stepsI look to my right:videos of brutalized black bodies, tales of innocent lives taken,death attacking my eyesdaggers of legacy and systems, shackles from hierarchies & history,darkness dancing before my eyesI look to my left:international extremity parading as religious missionmarches across the horizon,bombs exploding, bodies broken, terror soaring,hearts cracked in twoI try to run forward, hoping for escape,but despair grips my ankles,anguish quickens my breath,unknowns paralyze my thoughtssomething like the wind whispers in my ear:“don’t look down Brionna,don’t look for answers in the darkness below,don’t look around Brionna,don’t look for solace in the darkness that surrounds,look up towards the light Brionna,there is safety and life in that distant glow” As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,drifting like an alien in a strange land,I float because I am carriedI am comfortedI am restoredI am not afraid there may be no church in the wildbut to be carried in the arms of the Lordthrough every vine,past every predator,is worth more than any choir robe or pewMy soul plunges with pain,But I must rise,I must get up,I must continue on As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I know there must be life beyond this valley---Brionna Atkins ’16 is a Former Design Editor and alumna of The Harvard Ichthus.