Contemplation

It has happened now twice
in the past month. And these run-ins seem to
have, in their plan for me, nothing concise.
Rather, I have been stunned into review
of what I want in life.

I’m not unfamiliar
with how contemplation works. It is a
large, empty room. Those who knock can be sure
of no certain answer, only delay.
Decision is a blur.

To think the answers will
come to me if I sit in silence long
enough is to forget that the standstill
is self-inflicted. Because all along
life is ours to fulfill.

The answer is not “out
there” in a nebulous realm waiting for
us to call for it. It is not without
but within, although often we ignore
its silent, subtle shout.

But now that I have seen
the path which has emerged in front of me
I must take it, though most is still unseen.
The bar has been raised so high I can’t see
it, but oh! how it gleams,

Enticing me upward.
So the climb to reach it has begun. No
longer content with just going forward
upward must also be the way...but no,
The direction preferred.

I know there will be tears.
Not just mine, though my eyesight will be blurred.
But I cannot let them distract like mirrors
because inaction doused in pretty words
Will only keep me here.