The Journey
It is not unlike
Climbing a mountain
Whose craggy peak
Is obscured
By clouds
Alone
And usually against
The advice of loved ones
Do you begin your ascent
Eventually
Your haste to reach the top
Teaches you
All steps are equally important
For the without the 13th step
The 13,000 step would not be possible
And you discover
It is not the elevation achieved
But rather the ability to arrive there
That is the prize.
Sometimes the climb
Is slow and easy
Other times, frustrating but then
Suddenly opening out
To Paradisical Plateaus
Which you initially assume
Must be your goal
But then you walk their Gardens
Eat their Fruit
Drink from their fountains
But know there is more.
And your eyes turn upward once again
And you climb
Passing towns of every indulgence and mortal pleasure
Each door beckoning you
Back to what was once familiar
Do not tarry in those towns
Or taste their food
Lest you grow fat and sleepy
Indeed, these towns are not filled with evil doers
Who whish to thwart your success
But rather souls
Exactly like your own
Who lost their focus
For just a moment
And erected these towns
Congratulating themselves hollowly
Upon acquiring such a spectacular view
Beware, if you pass their hospitality
You may raise their anger
For you to move forward
Picks at the wound they conceal
That never heals
That spoils their pleasure
In the dark
And fill their nights once again with fear
Invite all to join you
And go
For the fragrance of God
Tumbles down the cliff sides
And beckons you onward
Pulling you upward toward that
Which you seek
And then, quite unexpectedly
The clouds will clear
And you discover
You have not ascended a mountain at all
But rather descended
Within yourself
And your amazement
Only increases
As you sit at the feet
Of the lotus blossom of your soul
Beginning to bloom
And smell the sweet fragrance
Of God
Growing stronger
With each petal that unfolds
And you rest all that
You have carried up the mountain
As you sit at the blossom
Knowing
The show has just begun.....
---unAsleep