For FlatDaddy: thank you for your encouragement and wonderfully thorough critiques. This poem would not exist without you; a similar poem perhaps, but not this one.
Do you ever lie awake at night,
And wonder why?
Have you ever seen a light so bright,
It hurt your eyes?
Are you ever going to admit,
That you don’t know?
Are you still able to quit,
And let it go?
This world we’re in is oh so large,
And you’re so very small.
It doesn’t matter what you do,
For time erases all.
You lie awake and think all night,
And still you have no clue.
Always asking the wrong questions,
Never: ‘who are you?’
Can you still recall the reason,
You began this quest?
Have all of these endless seasons,
Been nought but a test?
Once curiosity is crumbled,
Why continue on?
How many sent before you stumbled,
Motivation gone?
The route is long, it never ends,
But still you carry on.
Unable now to turn around,
The path behind is gone.
Forward then, into the future,
Walking blind into the dark.
Forgetting your pointless reasons,
Truth draws near: lethal, stark.
But now that you come close toward the end,
Can you continue?
Will you forsake the comfort false hopes lend,
And see the truth?
Or will you fold, as others have,
And leave life’s work for nought?
Dare you face your prospective grave,
To find that which you sought?
You square your shoulders, make your choice:
You take one final step.
No longer will you lie awake,
Pondering life’s dark depths.
Finally, you confront your truth,
And you are not afraid.
You view the world with eyes unveil’d,
As life’s light slowly fades.
