THE OPEN ROAD AHEAD     (8-22-93; Galveston, Texas)

   
     
the open road ahead    
     
lay forward and behind    
     
either way    
     
ive been there before    
     
concrete laid out    
     
for the brave    
     
and sometimes    
     
wearied blind    
     
my life plays out    
     
but still ive found    
     
destinations have    
     
a way at times    
     
of turning into oblivion    
     
even happiness    
     
and things you love    
     
have their way    
     
of turning off    
     
of shutting down    
     
one day here    
     
the next day gone    
     
left on your own    
     
forced to face    
     
yourself alone    
     
to make a choice    
     
to play it safe    
     
and stay    
     
or take the open    
     
unknown road
 
path or unmarked
 
trail ahead    
     
moving forward    
     
or behind    
     
whether brave    
     
or weary blind    
     
makes no difference    
     
for ive been    
     
there before    
     
either way ive    
     
nothing to lose    
     
so slowly now    
     
im moving on    
     
again beyond this    
     
lingering emptiness    
     
ive allowed myself    
     
to get so stuck in    
     
to seemingly become    
     
though only temporarily    
     
stuck not lost    
     
in all this useless    
     
pity for myself    
     
but now im    
     
rolling on again    
     
throwing off    
     
its strangling moss    
     
quietly rolling on    
     
like one lone    
     
wandering tear    
     
across nights    
     
yielding darkness    
     
trusting only    
     
that i ll feel    
     
and find my way    
     
to whatever    
     
may yet next come    
     
then hopefully    
     
face it with    
     
a fearless    
     
open heart    
     
and mind    
     
next time around    
     
which i suspect    
     
might just be    
   
right here in  
   
this very    
 
present  
   
moment    
     
now