A Journey Poem by Emma Atkinson

I never thought this was possible,
Something so profound and beautiful,
A creature I thought was lost to this world.

When I was young, I searched the woods,
Where among the leaves lay curled
A thousand mysteries.
I asked the trees,
If they knew the secret,
But it seems their solemn branches had sworn to keep it,
And they would tell me nothing,

And so the creature remained lost to me.

I went to the pale shores of the sea,
And searched among the shells.
I sang their song, and heard
The whisper of their spells.

And yet the creature came not.

I was alone and searching,
Or so I thought,
And as I grew, the dream too grew stronger,
Util I couldn't wait any longer,
But I had to-

For the creature had not found me yet.

And alone in my bed I cried to forget
The vision I had seen.

In time, I learned the creature's name,
But she eluded me all the same.

"Love, " I called, "Come."

Yet it was me she hid from.

Her eyes I hunted in the faces I saw,
The steadfast brow, the well-set jaw,
But none held the key to her cage,
And my despair increased with age,
That I would never find her.

Days, months, years,
Became a blur,
Faded from my tears.

And then, one day, I woke,
And Love, she spoke,
Her words flowing from the lips of another.
He stood apart,
And in his heart,
The creature had come to rest.

I felt the aching in my chest
Of one who has searched so long
She has given up
Turned to an overflowing cup
Of something greater than happiness.

The creature smiled, as if to confess,
That she, after all this time,
Wished to give to me what was mine,
And she came, sweetly and gently,
Tugging at my arm,
To come and stand disarmed,
Before her friend, her other searcher,
The one whose soul she did nurture
As she hid from me all those year.

And I, I stand, again tears,
Not of sadness, no,
For as I watch the creature go,
I see the one she left me,
My friend, my searcher, my love,
The one I have always dreamed of,
And I like Love, am now at peace,
For my journey, long as its been,
Has come, for now, to a beautiful end.