Some context: at the time this was written, there was a lot of arguments in the travel blogging world about whether or not travel blogging had ‘lost it’s soul’ through blogger’s partnerships with sponsors and so on. Some people have very strong views about this.
When I went for a walk
To find blogging’s soul
Where I thought it should be
Was a deep dark hole!
I called out: “Hello!”
The hole was so deep
And I listened intently
But heard not a peep.
“Where is the soul?”
I said to myself.
And looked all around me
For somebody else.
But I was alone,
Alone by the hole.
The hole that once held
Every blog’s soul.
I sucked up my courage;
I tried to be brave.
“I suppose I should enter
That deep, dark cave.”
And so I went down
Down into the dark
To look for the soul
And maybe the heart.
Down, down I went,
Away from the day.
With the light of an iPhone
To light up my way.
I came to a ladder
Bound together by rags
And was surprised to discover
It was a ladder of tags!
But this ladder of tags
Was paid for by brands.
And these hashtags were sharp!
They sliced up my hands!
But no choice did I have
So I bound up my hands
That had been cut to pieces
By the hashtags of brands.
The deeper I went
The darker it got.
And with a shift in the shadows
I called out “Great Scot!”
Then the shadows flew out
In a great big black flock.
I’ll freely admit it:
I got quite the shock!
I held on tight
To this ladder of tags
As bats flew around me
With bags full of swag!
In their tiny bat claws
They carried these bags.
Way up high above me
These bags of free swag!
And then they let go
And these little bat bombs
banged off my skull
Like a drummer’s tom toms!
When the bombing had ceased
I rubbed my sore head.
And felt rather relieved:
My head had not bled.
I continued on down
Till my feet hit the bottom
And I covered my nose:
The smell was quite rotten.
Then I heard this great thud
And another, and again
And out of the dark
A great monster came.
It was scaly and green,
Over seven feet tall!
As wide as truck!
And built like a wall!
When he saw me he roared,
And he quickened his walk.
There was nowhere to go:
I had my back to the rock.
And as he drew closer
(I tried my best not to cry)
He said as he saw me,
With hate in his eye:
“I have taken the soul,
Because of people like you.
I have hidden the soul;
Removed it from view.”
“For I am a The Judge!
Call me by name!
I judged all the others!
And I’ll judge you the same!”
“You are not worthy!
(As I said in a tweet)
You’ve ruined it for all!”
And he stamped his big feet.
The ground quivered and shivered
And wobbled and rocked.
And he pulled his arm back
Like a bow, fully cocked.
And I fell to the floor
And he loomed over me
And I looked all around me
But there was nowhere to flee
His mouth was a smirk
But before his fist flew
I recalled an old thought
And I screamed “Who are you?”
“You’re not real!” I cried
“You don’t get to decide!
The soul of the blogger,
It comes from inside!”
With those words in the air
Everything stopped.
Then after a moment
His loaded fist dropped.
He looked at me stunned
There was a loud crack
And fast moving fractures
Split his great back.
And he crumbled to dust
Right in front of my eyes!
And out of the dust
Was a blinding surprise!
A light filled the air:
A brilliant white.
I shielded my eyes
From this brilliant light.
Then I found myself back,
Back above ground.
I blinked in the sun
As I looked all around.
My hands were all right,
My headache was gone.
And I knew in that instant
We will carry on.
Sometimes we forget
With this journey so long
That the soul is inside us
As it has been, all along.