Watching with my young-girl eyes
while feeling with my heart,
I saw the life my mother led.
I read the thoughts inside her head
and came to some conclusions
that made me want to chart
a course divergent from her own….
From ‘normal,’ I did part.
I chose to walk a different road
and tote (what seemed) a lighter load
because my child-mind thinking showed
that offices and motherhood
brought about a life of ‘should’ —
eliminating joy and play.
Who wouldn’t head another way?
Now it’s clear the hows and whys
that Mother had embraced
were formed to walk an era past
(that I am grateful didn’t last).
You add to them illusions
my younger self had based
on circumstances yet unknown;
by these, was truth displaced.
By walking on my chosen road,
I’m now aware that each man’s load
is governed by a higher code
configured for the common good.
It’s divinely understood
to be the gift for which we pray,
put there to guide us on our way!
For once we shed our self-made chains,
the highest lane remains.
And in the end, we chart a course that leads us home to Source.