Changes

i remember seeing different people seeing a painting and commenting on it. They all saw the same painting but described it in different terms based on their perspective. i remember when this first happened to me. i wrote a story and several people wrote to me and told me what it meant to them and how it affected them. At first, in a posessive way, i wanted to explain the purpose of the story or poem but then realized that the writing had taken on its own life and, regardless of what i intended, it had its own impact on the readers.

This poem is about a choices when faced with a fork in the road. There are sometimes occasions, like going down rapids towards two tributaries, that we have no choice but to hold on and pray for what is best. While this poem is about a specific event/person/situation it is clearly, keeping in mind what was just mentioned, beyond that and related to what we all face in life; choice or holding on.

Changes

Sitting by the mountain stream
The maiden sat in peace, serene
Waiting patiently for the fates to call
To know where things in life would fall

Knowingly she would glean
As if awake or in a dream
What direction life’s course would lead
On what path to ride her steed
By patiently waiting for a sign to show
Faith, purpose, a way to go

Whatever the answer may be
It will be right, her destiny
For it is what is meant to be
For complete faith brings certainty

And once upon that path
Another fork will come
And like a beating drum
The rhythm calls
Pray and meditate
Awaiting fate
And again she goes
Through the open gate

Shiidon, November 2007