Yes
I once walked there
on the path well-trod
but my footprints I never could find
for they were all mixed and mingled therein
with the others
I walked behind
I’ve spend much of my life on a path, lost in the dust and footsteps of other path followers. This is ironic in that when I was young my favorite activity was to explore the open forest and fields surrounding my boyhood home. I would seldom see anyone during my journey’s and very little of my explorations included anything you could call a path. Perhaps a few deer or animal trails.
My trail wasnât straight
nor was it wide
it wandered where ever I pleased
but the beauty I saw
could never be seen
from that well-trod path through the trees
In the last year I’ve been given the opportunity to step off the path and while it may seem to many I not wandered far, for me it’s been a time of self-exploration. It’s also been a time to clear my head. It’s amazing how behavior codes can become convictions and then seemingly truths after 30 years of daily self indoctrination. I’m still working on the head part.
The good news is that I’m again feeling that boy in me who was comfortable being off the path.
But the tear that I shed
wasnât really for me
âtwas for the many who fear to be free
from the well-trod path
that shackles their souls
and shrouds their destiny
I’m thinking 2008 may be a good year.
Poem: My Path In The Woods, Marty RicKard