Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Journey


One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver

1 comment:

  1. i have read and reread this after sharing it with you the other day. On the surface it sounds almost selfish but it isn't. The reality is we are responsible for our happiness and in my exp we can serve best when we are in the place we are meant to be. Also as the old saying goes "where your greatest desire meets the world's greatest need-their is your destiny". So keep saving your life daughter-and in the end you will save us all.

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