THE RIGHT HABITS
Don’t leave me alone on a dark morning
When the blue night came with a Blizzard.
Dreams, more real than reality
And reality fading, dissolving
Into the open, like words spoken.
It is in naked minutes like that
When I yearn for the warmth of your hand.
I was thrown into this body
With all its tall tales of want.
Then I was thrown into my work,
By chance rather than by choice.
Little did I understand of human frailty,
Of good and evil, even.
Little did I know of how I would handle
The daunting load of holding souls
Of excellent young men afloat
While the wild waves were raging all around.
And little did I know of my tiny-teeny motives,
Shielded off, like generational secrets.
Then Failure came, and I made her my friend.
She was fair, she was Ruthless,
As she cut through all the useless Opinions,
And notions, and things to say.
She knocked me on my ass
And sat me down again,
Facing the Mirror of Silence.
And then the instinct, the reflex,
Born out of your lifeline, is
To jump up and turn away.
For the Mirror shows your naked soul.
She is discreet – she shows just you.
But down through the ages, you see, ruthlessly,
What was gladly left alone, before you came:
What is lying there for you to pick up.
And gradually, your task dawns on you,
What it is that you owe your elders,
And you rise and leave the Mirror behind.
And you go out again, invigorated with purpose.
And shy but firm, you lay your first hand
On that load on your road in life.
It is heavy! It is hot!
But you add a second hand
And lift it up with all your strength
To carry it to the mountain of fire
And toss it over the edge.
Toss it, and you see it falling.
Tumbling down till it’s out of sight:
Merging with the heat to return
To the original dust.
Then the climb down commences.
And, once returned to the valley,
You see men and their faces.
And you realize
The wisdom of the climb,
The wisdom of the Road,
Will be with you forever;
Forever and beyond.
Don’t leave me on a dark morning.
It is the warmth of your hand
In these naked minutes
That I cherish over everything.