Wordsmithing Life’s Trail
by Odin Roark

How expansive mind’s wilderness,
This valley of thought’s choices,
Where sentences meander like streams,
Paragraphs build on river’s banks,
And history’s stories hold as peaks,
Anticipating the resultant valleys for delivery.

Daunting it becomes,
Question marks stubborn as roots,
A darkness beneath the commas’ pauses’
Those cautionary Cairns along the path,
Alerting the followers,
There’s more ahead.

Along the way,
An occasional exclamation point
Ripples its accent,
Drawing attention to
That which might otherwise go unnoticed,
Save memory’s indomitable canyon echoes.

Plotting the lexiconic crest,
Where the divide may thrust disruptive winds,
Planning and preparation prove handy tools,
As the pre-mapping of shelter
Allows contemplation and decision
Often impossible along the often unpredictable trail.

In the end…

Like life’s perpetual journey
There’s never a story’s end
Only the resolve reached today…
Knowing tomorrow will provide
An alternative route to reach
That often-illusive true end,
The consummation of thought,
That place so often just beyond the summit.

Yet…

How rewarding our expeditions,
Traversing inclines of meaning
So often avoided by the less daring.