Considering Two Paths in the Wilderness

by Eve West Bessier

One path travels through the lowland meadows

where larks dart and swallows dip.

Here the creek meanders like a daydream

and glints in sun like an afterthought.

Here the oaks shelter and the willows sweep

the amber grasses with their long tendrils of green.

The sky is lightly clouded, the sun hazy.

The meadow edges are lined with conifers

that flute quietly in an autumn wind as if

recalling lost loves in distant lands.

The other path leads up the side of a mountain

over granite rocks, along ledges exposed

to a view of the world, expansive and breathtaking.

This way is winding and always upward

under the fleeting shadows of hawk wings

and a sky filling with cumulous clouds,

the promise of thunder, lightning, rain.

There are puzzle-barked Ponderosa and quaking aspen.

The air smells like imagination, bright, vigorous.

There are waterfalls and icy lakes of onyx water.

At the summit, there will be a glimpse of heaven

in the height and freedom of seeing eye to eye with eagles.

Both paths are worth the travel, both feed the soul.

To travel exclusively the meadow path

is to gain insight through tranquility and repose,

to commune with the contemplative aspects of nature,

your own and those of the landscape, but never to know

the thrill of stepping beyond your bounds,

of discovering that you are far larger than you dreamed.

To travel exclusively the mountain path

is to build fortitude and perseverance through courage,

to commune with the fiercer aspects of nature,

your own and those of the landscape, but always to grasp

challenge too readily and rest infrequently in whimsy.

It is to strive always higher than your current reach,

and when achieving the heavenly summit, the eagle’s view,

to find no repose in success or beauty, all too quickly seeking

another, even loftier goal for an appetite unquenched.

To travel both paths well

with conscious intention,

with neither lust nor lethargy,

allows the beauty and meaning of each to resonate,

and the heart to find the journeying joyous,

both patience and diligence rewarded

with equal measure of satisfaction.

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"Considering Two Paths in the Wilderness" was first published in Physik Room, Poetry Garden.