There were always going to be
Places I would never go,
Roads I would never travel,
Sights I would never see in
More than two dimensions.

Somehow, though, this was never
A conscious thought until
I survived my thirty ninth year
Rather than lived it, held in
An invisible cage through which
I could see tantalising
Glimpses of the world outside.

Perhaps I have already passed
The halfway point of my
Great winding journey. Even so,
My desire is often to revisit
Places I did not fully appreciate
Rather than discover the new.

Maybe I have just admitted
Defeat in the face of the law
Of diminishing returns;
Or am I merely trying
To wring every last drop of beauty
Out of the places I do reach?

Either way, I will remain
Tiny in comparison to the world
That is my playground,
And so I may as well be honest
About how little I have seen.

08/07/2021

Posted on 08/31/2021
Copyright © 2025 Richard Vince