I depart
For farther shores
In rearward glance
The past recedes
Leave behind
Mistaken thoughts
Their wrongful acts
Now turn away
Forge ahead
Find a path to better ways
Tag: the path
Listen ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #399
In the chaos
Amidst the storms
I listen
For the words
Arising from
The love within
In them find
A path beyond
Suff’rings past
Carried in the present
The Path to the Light
The path I find myself upon
Began within a vast unknown
In which I couldn’t find my heart
Though the path, it seems
Unwinds in random ways
Through places unfamiliar
A light calls out
Both day and night
Drawing ever nearer
In the Shadows
In the shadows beneath my consciousness
Dwells a me I barely know
A me of many parts
A friend
A saboteur
A healer
A destroyer
A revolutionary
A gatekeeper
A liberator
A prisoner
An advocate
A critic
All these aspects
Of shadow me
And so many more
Express themselves
In thought, desire and deed
Without consent
Without awareness
Of the me I once believed
Was the only me
Awakening to their existence
Marks the necessity of a journey
The journey begins
With introductions
And acceptance
Where it ends
I cannot know
But I suppose integration
Marks the milestone along the path
Where I become the one
I always believed I was
Unstraight
Once was a time
The path seemed
Straight and narrow
Far as my eyes could see
Entered a doubt
A fear
Indecision
Possibility compounded
Upon improbability
Chaotic grid of no means forward
So stop
Reconsider
Unwind the improbable
Evaluate the possible
Quell the fear and doubt
Make a choice
Then another
Build upon choices
Until trust defines a path
The Path Through Darkness
Stillness in dark, dense forest
Light trickles through the canopy
Enough to cast shadows of utter black
In near blackness
Trees and roots form vague outlines
A maze of a path
Upon a maze for footfalls
I stumble my way
In a direction which seems
Forward
Progress slow
Or futile
I do not know
No matter
If futile
Step back
Seek another path
In this sense
All paths lead to the light
Failure is to remain complacent
In the darkness
Serenity Amongst the Pitfalls
Though journeys be fraught
With pitfalls and wanderings
Know the beauty of the path
That the pitfalls and wanderings
Make the path beautiful
That serenity finds its moments
The Straight Path
The master told her students
This is the path to enlightenment
“But it is so straight”, one replied
True, said the master
“I expected the path to be difficult!”
The straight path is difficult
“How can it be?
There are no mountain passes to find!
No intersections or forks to choose from!
No sharp curves to negotiate!”
Many students nodded their agreement
The master shook her head
The straight path is difficult because
You want to climb mountains
You expect there to be many paths to choose from
You believe there should be sharp changes in direction
One student had sat quietly through all this
Listening while looking straight down the long path
As far as she could see
Finally, she spoke
“Walking the straight path is impossible
For one who seeks insight
From every roadside attraction”
The master smiled
I am your student!
Exalted Places
When the paths to exalted places
Seem paved with broken asphalt
Through blighted landscapes
I am left to wonder
A test of my resolve
To achieve exaltation
Or testimony
To the destination’s character
The Bend
Big bend in the river comin’ up!
No idea what’s around it
Can’t even see the turn all that clear
Or what’s just ahead fer that matter
No matter
We done plenty a these
Always works out
Usually fer the better
I suppose there’ll be
Remarkable new things to discover
Around that corner
All kinds of possibilities
Don’t worry none about the fog
Things’ll be clear enough once we get close
Just the way the corner up ahead
Is gettin’ clear enough to know the turn
Kinda pretty idn’t it?
The way the fog only gives ya part a the picture
Then just the green
Then trees and the cracks in rocky cliffs
Ya only get enough to know how to move on
With some foreshadowin’
Of just how beautiful it’s gonna be
When it all becomes clear
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