In Truth There Will Be Many Paths

In truth there will be many paths


Some may beckon
paved with quiet mantras,
stolen lines from Shakespeare
or His Holiness
The Dalai Lama.
To find your way
among these warriors
may seem
daunting
like seeking footprints
washed away,
an impossible
Hansel and Gretel task.

And still you slow
discover what to sow
in order (once again)
to find your way:
seeds of compassion,
the quality of mercy,
an opening
to the heated knowing
behind oven doors
long sealed shut
for your own protection.

With courage
fear's steel band softens;
confusing mind sludge
thins and flows.
Where once panic rose
soft silence
now reveals
the beating of your heart.

Trails blazed by others
become a distant call;
the imprint
of your own past journeys
suffuses every joint and muscle,
adventurous flesh
grows over long-neglected bones.

Roots of change
slowly secure each new step,
unfamiliar horizons beckon
bringing hope
to those lost children within,
now freed from being eaten
by the minds of those
who came before.