Ambling Man

As I sit and meditate
soft music and nature sounds
filling my head

As I contemplate my journey
I realize that I have walked a crooked path
A path with many turns, winding

Forks that I have taken
Many
I have faced great heights and deep chasms
I have known glory and defeat

The crevasses into which I have fallen
barely escaping and near impossible to climb
Yet here I stand to walk, again

Exposed by the light
Hidden by the darkness
In this life, I have seen things
I feel more than most

Unfairness and redemption
Purity and evil
Love and Hate
Success and failure
Things that seemed perfect
Things that were terribly ugly

The path has leveled,
suddenly narrowed
Once crooked, now straight
No longer my worst enemy

The roads not taken
I have surely travelled
Some would say a waste
Now my greatest asset
I can comprehend peace

I must amble along
Leave my rambling to younger men
Resist the forks, fewer, still tempting

Resist what once appealed
Those places that angels fear
The demons I have danced with
many times

I have earned these lines
Each speak to me
of times unique and wonderful
of deep regret and some of sorrow

Yet here I stand to amble on.

-J