Issue 39 · One poem
Trail
Walking a familiar path toward an unfamiliar self.
The Trail
I am walking a long a path, a trail very familiar to me.
Many times I've gone this way, but never the top I've seen.
For each time before, I have stopped before the end.
I slipped upon the ground; I've needed time to mend.
Each time that I've fallen, the pain I felt deep within.
My injuries were more then scratches, more then broken skin.
But for some unknown reason, I pick myself up again.
I travel along the path, looking towards the end.
An end never in sight, only a vision of my mind.
Images developed from others who at the end have arrived.
Will I know it when I see it? Will it be what I'm looking for?
Will I give up before I make it? I must try at least once more.
Will it be worth the pain that I've already put myself through?
Only when I reach the end of the trail, will I know if this is true.
“I am walking along a path, a trail very familiar to me.”
Trail
§Clark J. Madsen - July 24, 1994