My life journey has just begun to unravel
For it is time to close the door to comfort and familiarity
In search of new surroundings, people, and situations
I carry my previous experiences on my back
For support and comfort
Right now I am on my own
To travel the unmapped jungle of discovery and adventure
And it is up to me to make my own choices
By diagramming the course of my existence
Not from the trodden trails of cultural persuasion
But by the revolutionary back roads of autonomy
It is time to bid farewell to my ancestral home
A place that gave me wings to fly
A mind to expand past the border of rigidity
A soul now burgeoning with passion and hope
Ready to make my mark on the world
As a navigator of unflagging inspiration.
COLLIDING CREATURES
Do you see beauty in art
Or view a canvas of ambiguity
Do you feel the depth of poetry's expression
Or take the words at face value
Do you listen to music's resonance
Or hear a pulsating cacophony
Do you taste the sweetness of life
Or swallow its bitter moments
Do you breathe the aroma of bliss
Or smell the stench of misery
Do you accept people for who they are
Or reject them because they are different
Do you give others a second chance
Or deny them the opportunity to prove themselves
Do you speak from my heart
Or lock your emotions inside
Do you desire diversity
Or are you content with uniformity
Do you consume the feast of creativity
Or drink the refreshment of rationality
Do you travel alternate routes
Or tread the same old path
Do you turn defeat into victory
Or allow failure to deter progress
Are you ensconced in humanity's circle
Or are you drawn into materialism's web
Are you guided by virtue's light
Or are you lured by deception's darkness
Do you delight in altruistic feats
Or do you suffer from self-indulgent pleasures
Do you spend your earnings wisely
Or toss it away like worthless debris
Do you look forward to each new day
Or brood over past mistakes
Will you die with a spirit of tranquillity
Or you perish beneath a mask of torment
The real difference among us
Is characterized by our outlook on life
Which will determine our ultimate destination.
RESERVOIR OF REJUVENATION
Wouldn't we all profit
Drinking from the legendary fountain of youth
Never having to face
The grim reality
Of growing old
Or concerning ourselves
With thoughts of disease and death?
Wouldn't it be just wonderful
To wake up one miraculous day
And possess the same delicate features
As we did when we were young
Instead of looking in the mirror
To confront the wrinkles and sags
Of unmistakable maturity?
Wouldn't life be more peaceful
If we could drift off to sleep each night
Knowing that we'd still be here
In the morning
To perform all the things
We had planned to do
No matter what?
Although we'd all like to remain young
And wake up looking and feeling
As beautiful or handsome
As we did when we were twenty
The reality is that we will all grow old
And ultimately enter the foreseeable afterlife
Long before we are even ready.
So it is up to us
To make the best today possible
Cherishing it like a precious pearl
Nurturing it like a newborn baby
Because tomorrow may vanish
Before we even have a chance
To open one more of life's surprising gifts.
SECRETS OF SERENITY
Ultimate serenity is a rapturous rainbow
After the maelstrom of insurgent madness
A waterfall of blissful wonderment
That faithfully flows of sparkling beauty
A flourishing rose garden
Which permeates the dingy air
With an ambrosial scent
An elevated mountaintop
That echoes forth with heavenly grace
A vast wilderness of breathtaking foliage
Which covers you with its verdant veil
A chimerical folk tale
That whisks you away on a transatlantic voyage
Filled with amazing adventure and never-ending titillation
A confectionery medley of delectable treasures
That melts your acrid taste buds with sweetness
A lover's serenade
That chants of tender adoration and virtue
Vigilant eyes that focus on tranquility's view
Acute ears which tune out uninvited cacophony
Olfactory senses that snuff out repellent stenches
A cloudless mind released of apprehension
A malleable heart that only feels compassion
Fearless bones no longer fractured from affliction
But above all the rest,
Ultimate serenity is the universal panacea for unrelenting pandemonium.
SHADOW'S WEAVE
The image in the mirror which I often see
Does not reflect who I wish to be
For I always find a fault or flaw
Instead of looking beneath what is raw
When the shadow of my soul is finally cast
I watch with amazing awe
As inner elegance sprouts its roots at last
And continues to germinate like a bird's craw
It catches me off guard sometimes
Like the bell tower's hourly chimes
Or the ebony cat that crosses my path
But when it does appear
I no longer feel any fear
For I am happy and carefree
Like goldenrods waving in the breeze
I rise in the morn and retire in the eve,
Prepared to create my destiny from an unexplored weave
Never looking back at a mirage that did deceive
No matter which way the wind shall blow
I shall continually follow my soul's shadow wherever I go.
