The Road I Took
by Steven Craig
We walked the road along the field
There was no way to know the mountain was just behind the tree
There no sound of the wave on the shore
There was on the warmth of the sun on the back
The eyes held dear the moment that lived so intense
The field was green and fresh
The fire was new and warm
The day knew not its end
You could feel what it was to be alive
You knew the endless time before you
You know you could return so many times again
And it would be there, waiting offering its embrace
Time was the road, it was the cloud, it was the flower in my hand
I saw it, and knew it was what was in me
I would never loose it
I would never cry in missing it
I would always hold it tight
There was no way it would desert me
There was no path that ran contrary to mine
Such is youths immortality
And the road I took splintered into so many fractions
Each their own garden,
Their own sun
Their own field
The cliffs grew where I thought they would be
But not on the road I thought I was on
The river was crossed
But not on the bridge I was destined to know
The beach sands was warm and welcoming
But not the shore I dearly loved.
It took a life time to live and to know
There were so many other rivers I could have crossed instead
So many cliffs I could have edged up to and peered over
So many places that I stopped and hesitated,
And then turned around, never to go back there again
For immortality is clear, when you have all the time in the world
World will wait for you to return
Many years on, many bridges on, many rivers dried and flooded
Many cliffs took my breath away, took my heart away as well
Took me on a path that, had for some reason not lived it,
I would not have called it mine.
For I touched so many stars in the sky
But never had a star all my own
I raised a field of dreams in so many
And never had my dream beckon me
I know that truth is such that it digs into your heart
Erodes your soul, scared away those dreams, the ones that never happened
In life, there are so many other joys, so many other loves that made a difference
They were not the ones I chose
They were gifts to me
And it took a lifetime to seem it.
It is a long forgotten truth, that tears clear the vision to see the world about
It is not a world that is made of personal dreams, but of personal exploits and determination
Until the last breath, it still unfolds, it still grows in wonder, it still makes such a green field
And it is mine, and while perhaps not what was desired, was none the less what was needed.
10/24/2015
