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Journey - A Poetic Essay

By Phillip Hennessy

Funny how we always end up referring to this life as some kind of journey....
like....we're on our way somewhere.....and we never seem to arrive....
just go round in circles all the time....
and now and then, centrifugal force throws some of us off
some hold on for dear life....some let go...
some move further inward, so as not to get thrown off the edge
and some pass each other, going different ways....
and smile, as they pass, assuming that their path will lead to heaven, or nirvana
that place we all seek....
and wonder, if this is the right direction.....seeming lost, sometimes,
though recognising well-trodden paths where others have walked.....
and noticing the over-grown side paths
that seem to lead into the darkness of the forest.....
wondering what pleasures, or disasters, we could encounter on those lonely paths
taking solace in the fact that if we stay on the well-trodden path,
then we wont get stung by the thorns of bitter experience
and only occasionally realising that we are also missing the sweetest smell
and beautiful sight of the flowers that nestle, deep within dark corners of the forest
their safety, and beauty, assured by the complete acceptance of all that surround them....
the colourful and bright part of the darkness that protects them
like stars that sparkle in the celestial universe we admire and wonder at
from the soft, and welcoming forest floor on which we lay
and rest, a while, marvelling at the stillness, the smell, feel, the wisdom, the strength,
the sounds, the life within this forest of our inner research....
our outer fears and inward dreams becoming those lonely paths
that we never dared to walk alone...
often mistaking the friends we meet along the way as enemies from the past,
or future, even......
and so, rarely daring to take the hand, offered so innocently and lovingly,...
and yet, in the stillness and warmth of the deep forest,
that knowing, that spirits have travelled this path for lifetimes,
in many forms, and many directions, in different times, and different perceptions.....
oh....it's the same forest...it's the same path.....it's the same sky....
same trees.....same souls.....same journey....
yet.....every time......it's different.....every time....is like the first time....like the last time....though.....different
and then...there's the unknown...
beyond the beauty of this quiet space we have found on our way within the forest of our thoughts....
dare we look back ....back at the beauty we have encountered on our way...?....
do we take a petal, a leaf, or a flower from that beautiful bunch we sat by...?
or do we leave such beauty to be appreciated and acknowledged
by those who will pass this way later..?...or sooner....?
for surely, in this space where time seems to stop, and everything is still..
..is this not the nirvana we seek...? hasn't it been here, all along...?....
did we pass it on the way...without noticing..?...
or were we headed in a different direction....
holding the hand of recognition and letting go of the chords
of golden light that illuminate the way for glorious interchange of souls,
connected not only within the interlocking pathways of experience
....connected also by the harmonising of their thoughts,
vibrating in accordance with their desires and attunements
oh, heavenly choir of tuneful souls...make this forest ALIVE.....
sing your song of great discovery, so that other souls,
lost in the darkness of your wayward paths
can carry on, along those paths so out of sight, so out of light,
hearing the sweet sound of your wonder-filled vibration,
and feeling the warmth that the dark, wide forest provides,
as our thoughts explore each rarely trodden pathway along its branches

© 2005 Phillip Hennesey


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