At the Crossroads

Ah, this oppressive heat blinds me
How much longer will I be stuck
Here in this, airless, arid, sweltering place
All the energy out of me does it suck
Did I make the wrong turn? If I did,
When, and how did that happen?

For I do not remember it this way
All I do is long for the beauty
Of the tall confident trees that stood
Brave and majestic, their brown wood
Steady in the blowing breeze
Of the cool shade that they gave

Of the bees and the butterflies
Fighting their way to the sweetest flower
Of the chirpy birds that gave me company
In the lonliness of my life’s journey
They seem faint and distant now
Mere memories in the larger frame of reality

Of that Rippleless pond on a stormy night
Of the clear blue sky bereft of any clouds in sight
I long for those lucid and clear moments
Transient though, they are
When I am freed of this torment
Of the decision that I have to make
Of choosing the path that I have to take

The path in front of me is stretched out
Long, and unwinding, without respite
Or so it seems from here, from now
Life, I know, is not a bed of roses
But is there an end, an end to this all?
An end that would culminate
In a sense of fullness and joy

If only I knew, if only I knew
That this would lead me there
Where I have always wanted to be
I would cross a thousand seas
A thousand mountains I would climb
I would leave no stone unturned
To lead myself to the end

To the finale where I would taste
Perfection, and order, and beauty
When I would be proud of
My time, my life, my dreams
My hopes and my everything
When I can look back
After my work here is done
And tell myself, and everyone else
That it was a path well chosen.