Paths Poem by Leinad Zerimar

Life is a journey,
Filled with both light and darkness,
Love and sorrow,
Hope and despair.

Most of us can recall clearly
The things that make us most happy:
Childhood memories of parental joy,
A kind word from a complete stranger,
Each flash of pride and every single accomplishment;
That first, magical night with your one true love.

To those,
Life is an adventure to be shared;
Every moment a gift,
Filling every day with life,
And the adventure never ends.
To them,
The worst of memories are only shades of the past,
And quiet moments most often
Are islands of peace.

Then there are those who can recall,
With equal clarity,
Only the things that hurt us most:
Childhood memories of parental abandonment,
A hateful word from a complete stranger,
Each flash of embarassment and every single failure;
That one, careless mistake that cost you your one true love.

To those,
Life is a wheel of pain,
Spinning eternally in their mind's eye.
Even when things are at their best,
The wheel never stops turning.
To them,
The best of memories are bitter-sweet,
And quiet moments unerringly
Become torrents of agony.

Sometimes they find the lihgt in others,
In daily experiences,
In the little joys of life.

But, often times,
The only way to the light
Is through the darkness.

Sometimes,
You must let the darkness in,
Before you can fight it.
Sometimes,
You must let it comsume you,
And make yourself vulnerable to it.
Because sometimes,
The only way to defeat the beast
Is from within.

But sometimes,
One walks too long in the darkness
And risks becoming one with it,
Making an enemy of the self.