I see a turn in the road, only a few miles ahead

I wish to run towards it, but must walk slowly.

I don't know which adventure the turn leads to,

But at least it will end my current suffering.

I hope the journey will have the everyday joys

That I have desired, unsuccessfully, for years.

I hope it makes me stop looking back wistfully

At a past that's long escaped my wrinkled hands.

And while I know that this burden of hopes

Could weigh down the future that's to come.

I cannot stop myself from wishing this river

After all its twists and turns, finds the ocean.

I look back and I see a quaint little house

With the warm glow of a live well lived.

It calls out to me hauntingly, and with love

Inviting me to comfort; to familiarity.

The path ahead, in contrast, is uncharted

Cold and uninviting, like a complete stranger.

My feet move forward, as if under a spell

But the heart, free, looks back at the house.

This is, after all, the ceaseless journey of life.

Of beautiful endings, and uncertain beginnings.

Knowing that the end was written into the start,

And yet foolishly hoping it continues forever.

After years of running away from the past

Countless nights worrying about the future.

Today I finally found my peaceful place

In the warm glory of your radiant smile.

My heart, stunned by the blows life struck

Had forgotten how to gently float in joy.

Till the glistening twinkle in your eyes

Radiated like electricity through my body.

For once, neither shame nor fear haunt me

I feel like I have achieved the pinnacle again.

Perhaps this wandering soul, after a decade

Has finally reached the destination it sought.

As I take these tentative steps towards you;
The burden of the past weighs heavily on me.
The scars of battles past; memories of heartbreak
Make me wonder if this journey I can undertake.

You paint for us a picture of clear blue skies;
But the grey clouds of my pessimism hold sway.
Your love flows like streams of unbridled joy,
And yet, my caution might lead them astray.

How do I reduce myself to nothingness,
So that I may love you completely, blithely?
In knowing nothing but your love for me,
Perhaps I will find myself worthy.

As the clock races ahead, unabated
The decision draws closer, unresolved.
A moment of reckoning set in time
A choice to be made for the rest of life.

And yet, I don't move; incapacitated
And overwhelmed by the choices I face.
No right-or-wrong, heart-or-brain,
Just two paths I don't know well enough.

Perhaps this is what leadership will be
A struggle between hope and despair.
Every day an unexplored path to tread
Every decision a break from the past.

From this familiar feeling of doubt
I must make myself fearless, immune.
Perhaps find the star that guides me
As I navigate the path I seek to create.

These masks that I carry with myself
And put on when the situation demands.
The happy one, the serious one, the sad one
The one with energy, the one that's grim.

So accustomed to juggling these masks
That what lies underneath has been forgotten.
The dreams of my blithe self from the past
Now looks like a distant memory.

Maybe somewhere out there lies redemption
Maybe I need to be brave and break free.
Or maybe I need to learn to juggle these masks
Each a vestige of a time that's shaped me.

We've come a long way, haven't we?
Through roads we had never imagined.
Our souls have been dismembered, mutilated
But we stayed the course, united.

We fought with all we had, against demons
Against demons who knew a lot about us
About our imperfections, our insecurities
Our inability to be who we claimed to be.

And yet, these imperfections are what I love
They have made me come closer to you.
Made me realise that, after all, we are
Two souls, imperfect, building a life together.

The yesterday, the today, will both melt
And will forge the contours of the tomorrow.
A tomorrow unknown, very mysterious
That hides in its cloak the secrets of joy.

My fearful heart seeks those secrets,
But the gentle past has only advice to give.
Fear not, it says, as you ride these waves
They are the friends that got you here.

In the colours of your rainbow,
I lost the colours of my being.
In the shifting sands of your time,
I lost grains I had picked up.

When you flow by my side,
I erode, and become one with you.
The silence of my existence,
Lost in the cacophony of motion.

With me you play hide-and-seek
And yet guide me when I'm lost.
Your stillness is like a deep mirror
Taking me to my forgotten past.

You're always there, and yet never.
When you I seek, you disappear.
I waited for union with you, but
Only to realise we never parted.

The dust raised by the falling tree 

Once had me blinded, helpless 

My cries were buried by the noise 

Of the earth shaking under its weight. 

Today, it feels like a burden has lifted 

And my soul, once again, takes flight

Into hopes that seemed impossible 

Into dreams that once seemed dead. 

There is still remorse, of course, 

This moment has passed into oblivion. 

But my being feels re-assured that

This heart hasn't lost the ability to feel.

Love is pain, and pain is love,

And love is also the light of day. 

And therefore i must live it, love it, 

For as long as in this world I'll stay.