The Soul’s Keep

Emerging Whole

The wind had picked up;
turned harsh and cold.
I shook off the shivers
and pulled on my boots.
It was time for me to go;
me and my backpack.
I trudged onward with
my head bowed against
the fury of the elements.
One foot in front of the other...

Right?

For journeys of discovery,
one must start out light.
Just the bare essentials.
The needs to go exploring
are unique to each wanderer.
My backpack cradled little
else except my emotions.
I dropped the burdens of longing
for a return to what once was.
I left them back there somewhere.
Sometimes the past is the one
bad apple that spoils...

Right?

Reality's tempest peeled back
my layers of delusional pretense.
Self-deceits were ripped away and
scattered behind me like dead leaves.
I was left bleeding from a thousand pinpricks;
bruised, battered and forced to kneel.
My head reeled and my heart scarred,
I built fortress walls bolstering my soul's final keep;
where I defended the essential me.
Locked away in the dark, I retreated to my center
and began healing myself in my inner light.
Sometime later, I emerged from the chamber
squinting in the brightness of a new day.
I picked up my emptied backpack,
determined to fill it with only truths.
After all, the truth will set you free...

Right?

They say a journey of a thousand
miles begins with a single step.
I say, so too does the journey of
a thousand lifetimes.
One foot in front of the other...

Right?