- 17 Nov 2005, 16:33
#4575
Mapless
There is a path no more before you;
At least,
Not the one you so carefully planned.
No markers
Evenly spaced; no road signs,
Or directions clearly marked.
You find yourself,
Lost in the unfamiliar,
The unmapped route lies
Before you.
Dreams of a youthful imagination,
Lie fractured in the road behind.
But look down,
Beneath your feet.
That is a road forming beneath you,
Dirt, then gravel.
Not far ahead the path is paved.
You are standing on the road you have made.
-- Elizabeth Bishop
There is a path no more before you;
At least,
Not the one you so carefully planned.
No markers
Evenly spaced; no road signs,
Or directions clearly marked.
You find yourself,
Lost in the unfamiliar,
The unmapped route lies
Before you.
Dreams of a youthful imagination,
Lie fractured in the road behind.
But look down,
Beneath your feet.
That is a road forming beneath you,
Dirt, then gravel.
Not far ahead the path is paved.
You are standing on the road you have made.
-- Elizabeth Bishop
"Be like the flower that gives fragrance even to the hand that crushes it." ~ Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib