The Traveller

Some men are content to remain in the shadows

Some men are content to call complacency home

Some men can't face the burning in their throats

When confronted with even a small taste of the unknown

Do not be those men, she said

Pursue life 'til your very last breath

'Til the flesh separates from your bones

And your shoulders give from the load

So I set out into the woods

And stared down the night

And her long black dress

And glistening stars

Whose shoulder bathed in moonlight

Did seem as hope to my weary eyes

Some men will linger too long here

Some men will take shelter in the oaken arms I offer

Some men come to escape the morning

When faced with the weight of the world they've left

Do not be those men, she said

Take solace here, but do not lie down your head

Let the light of the moon remind you of the day's approach

And beware the arms that would hold you too close

So I set out to the shore

And fashioned a boat

Of driftwood and daring

Cast out to sea

Where white crests cascaded over

A gown that glistened under the eyes of dawn

Some men will drown 'neath the weight of the waves

Some men will drift without direction or aim

Some men will long for me long past their mooring

And see only the moment they may return to me

Do not be those men, she said

Be sure that your course is swift and direct

Hoist your sails and and embrace those winds

Who would press forward through any storms that threatens

So I set out to port

In a foreign world

And traversed the bustling city streets

'Til the edge of town and I did meet

At the bleeding of dusk into desert sands

Whose tan skin invited me

Into oblivion

Some men will ever thirst for me

Some men will fall before moving on

Some men can't escape the light I radiate

When the sun climbs high across my sheets

Do not be those men, she said

Walk 'til the water is heaven on your lips

'Til the skin begs to crack from the fate that you've chosen

And your eyes see the oasis just beyond your hopelessness

So I set out to find

What else lie before me

Only to discover my circumnavigation complete

As my eyes lit upon that first day's dream

Whose arms outstretched awaited me

Who, on my approach, whispered quietly

Some men are content to traverse the world

Some men would consent to calling no place home

Some men can't face a future set in place

And see only those horizons to which they might run away

Do not be those men, she said

Who have tasted the world, and never returned to my lips

Before they tread quietly unto the abyss

And wished they remembered more than they had left.

     -Do not neglect the destination for the journey, or the journey for the destination. And when you greet the end, you will do so having truly lived.