Walking Through Not To

Walking Through Not To

I approach the path with purpose, feet firmly in place.
Wind, nor rain, nor sunny day will vary step or resolve,
if miracles are real, and fantasy not a game I play.

They join me in the mission, eyes aglow with victory
at taking that first step towards becoming or being
not what was, but what will be.  Beyond we think we see.

Seconds, minutes, hours – clock ticks – they betray.
Their faithless faces reveal their empty eyes,
as from the path, they weave and then they stray.

Unfamiliar looms the road, wrong turns taken.
Why did I follow those who knew even less than I,
the truth, real knowledge I’ve forsaken.

Visions appeared in mirrored glass, the I in front of me
was what I followed instead of map and trail
because I thought I knew that I could clearly see.

The smell of fear and defeat fills the closing air.
Standing still, trapped in a cycle of inaction;
my feet forget to walk and settle for despair.

Light dawns just a trickle in the recessed brain,
to walk is to win, the path and the purpose
from the dark mirage I’ve regained.

A responsive poem written to:

ID: 1632137   (Rated: E) The Walk  I guess this is about the ups and downs of learning. by Dan Sturn