I lay my life out like a map,

smoothing out the folds,

considering the route traveled:

the twists and turns, detours,

ill-advised stopovers;

long, lost excursions into

unfamiliar countrysides;

places where the journey

could have abruptly ended

at any time.

"So I am here and it is now,"

I think. I shake my head, amazed

at how a journey takes you,

and not the other way around;

how looking back can

get you into trouble,

and looking ahead just as well.

Here and now is enough

to deal with anyway.

Nothing else is real.