Crossroads

I stood at the crossroads of my life.

It had been a long road.

A hard road.

A long time coming.

Building up to a final capacious crescendo in my soul.

The final fallout from a nightmarish, nuclear armageddon.

A cold, barren wasteland lay to the North.

Haunting, heartbreak to the South.

A flood of terrifying, tears to the East.

Arid, disappointment to the West.

The only remaining life was from the dust of passing cars.

At least they knew where they were going.

I was tired.

Aching.

Devoid of dignity.

Wanted to lie down but that would just get me run over.

My moral compass no longer functioning.

I needed to go with the flow.

Get with the program.

Suck it up.

I decided to flip a coin at the paralyzing, painful intersection.

Whichever way it leaned would determine my path.

The coin spun in the air.

Glistened in the sun.

Basked in the breeze.

Just as my fate hung in the balance,

I was distracted by a flock of birds taking flight.

I heard the coin fall but chose to ignore it.

Rather than leave fate to chance,

 I decided to follow the birds of the air.

Because they know best.

They do not lie.

Are peaceful.

Content.

Singing.

Soaring.

Always landing on their feet,

no matter what.

They get what they need but not what they want.

I guess everything will be all right after all.

After the great fall.

Unmitigated gall.

I found ...

... at the crossroads ...

Reviews

[Kelly Scheppers]

Indulging oneself in this masterful piece is quite easy to do. The photo reminded me of Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway, towards the end, when he was faced with what road to travel down.

You are an all-encompassing poet, Pete, and I am so glad to know you!

[Pete]

thanks Kelly. that's a great movie and i am very pleased to make your acquaintance!

[Giulia King]

This is amazing, Pete! Never stop writing. I feel like you can write a book with thousand of pages and I will never get tired of reading your words!

[Pete]

what a wonderfully kind thing to say. thank you as always for your encouragement dear friend Gullia! :)

[Ruth]

Birds are brilliant for the messages they bestow, those crossroads sure know how to detach us from our real path ey? Amazing piece :)

[Pete]

thank you P.R.S. i was thinking as i was writing the piece and was distracted by some birds. we humans overcomplicate things. the birds live at the crossroads moving about freely and choosing paths and going with it and surviving because of those simple principles. there is something very special and telling about them ...

[Ruth]

There is, I agree, the swift is one of my totem animals, they remind me to adapt and be agile in life so I know what you mean :)

[TerryDarcy-Ryan akaSh..]

To look back in retrospect and be at peace with the path taken. There is a positive theme running through this piece, no matter the past your ever ready for the next page. A new journey and you take the wisdom of all you survived with you. Even if you flipped a coin is it really choice by chance or is it destiny ? Well done! thank you for sharing and God Bless

Sheer Terror

[Pete]

thanks Sheer. retrospect - that is a great word and you pose an interesting question. regardless, we all must move forward and embrace our futures one way or another or run from them which surely won't work...

[Hebe]

Even through the tragedy that permeates the beginning of the poem, I could feel the endurance of having arrived even to this point. I enjoyed reading it because it was written like a story and I felt I wanted to know more about what happened after the decision of following the birds, which turned the whole thing to being just magical and as it should be ... wonderful write Pete.... one of my favorites :)

[Pete]

thanks Hebe. it feels unfinished because i do not yet know where those birds will ultimately take me but know that i will follow their lead so to speak ...

[Cyprian Van Dyke]

I enjoyed this poem. The eyes of my mind was moving throughout and everything just made sense. It had a great story. I liked how you followed the birds at the end. Birds can teach us a lot about life. My favorite part was when the coin flipped. Tyfs!

[Pete]

i appreciate your thoughts. thank you C.V.D. best regards!

[Cyprian Van Dyke]

You're most welcome!