I climb a high hill
Knotted with shrubs
Littered with leaves
Where grasses do not grow

And at its peak I catch a glimpse
Of a bright shore
And a sparkling ocean

And I make my way there
Feet bleeding
Tears streaming
But smiling
For it is in sight

Aloft go my dreams

Into skies of countless stars

Where heroes walk

And poets write

And explorers seek the horizon

There I find that purpose

So often hidden here

The sun sets
And I do not retire
Lying instead
Beneath the starlight

Wondering what tales the unnamed stars tell
Pining for their songs
Their histories
The untold moments of the lives of bodies unseen

And as I wonder
A star twinkles
Whispering
Of secrets

No one else has heard

I wish for slowness
For the flitting bolts
That are my thoughts
To ease
To follow winding lanes
To break at the switchbacks
Along the path
Up this mountain

The birds chirp and chitter
As the sun peeks out
And the wind blows brisk and wild
Bringing word of change to come
And the leaves and petals
Listen
As do I

Bright music is playing
Yet I cannot hear it
For my ears
Are turned
Toward thoughts that do not subside
Twirling shadows that infect the corners
Of my mind

I scrubbed clean my house
And the path to the door
And the stones by the path
And the flowers by the stones

And yet I wondered
Who I did it for

I have wondered
When I’ve wandered
What secrets I might miss
What unseen truths might hide behind
The trees and stones and rivers that I pass by

At the midway mark
I wondered to myself
Whether I ought to have taken another path
And then I recalled
That the branches of the path
Are infinite
The opportunities
Are countless

And the guardrails
Only in my mind