Life Maps
by Odin Roark

How telling,
that which is thought lost
in folds of one’s worn map.

Youth…

Easily forgotten traverses
of forbidden goals,
details forever remembered
where ambition’s creases and folds squeezed tight
once shown clear one's carefree terrain,
those unmarked paths taken off the beaten track,
beset by emotions' thorns and poison,
guided by the indomitable spirit of immortal dreams,
daring defiance once held in abeyance,
a granted memory left marked in relief,
its deep wear-torn crevasses shadowed in memoriam.

Mid life…

Brought loftier goals,
longer treks
ambitious peaks
rest stops often ignored.

Now…

Challenges lead ever-higher,
pathfinder experience proves sound
around and across tributaries of melting adolescence
now but log book entries
necessary for survival.

How telling
the transition
the traverse
into wiser routes,
to gaze upon heretofore unseen pinnacles
those once of imagination never dared.

How revealing
these worn mountainous passages,
life's ever-changing topography,
rock-hard experience evolving to scree
gently tapering to a valley floor,
time's gradual attrition
marking a well spent expedition,
new adventures awaiting
outside one's neatly folded map.

Uncharted imaginings remain eternal.

First steps await,

again.