No path - David Whyte

There is no path that goes all the way.

Not that it stops us looking

for the full continuation.

The one line in the poem

we can start and follow

straight to the end.

The fixed belief we can hold,

facing a stranger that saves

us the trouble

of a real conversation.

But one day you are not

just imagining an empty chair

where your loved one sat.

You are not just telling a story

where the bridge is down and there’s

nowhere to cross.

You are not just trying

to pray to a God you imagined

would keep you safe.

No you’ve come to the place

where nothing you’ve done

will impress and nothing you

can promise will avert

the silent confrontation,

the place where

your body already seems to know

the way having kept

to the last its own secret

reconnaissance.

But still, there is no path

that goes all the way

one conversation leads

to another

one breath to the next

until

there’s no breath at all

just

the inevitable

final release

of the burden.

And then

your life will

have to start

all over again

for you to know

even a little

of who you had been.

Shared by Maryse Barak