The Path

The path I followed to this place

Twisting, turning and rarely pristine

Does not match up with the life I dreamed when I was seventeen.

~

I plotted, planned and figured out

The route that I would follow.

Yet had I done exactly that, my journey:  Shallow, hollow.

~

The fullness of my life, as is

Comes not from well-laid plans.

The glories, challenges,  when joined, fulfilled divine commands.

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The hardships I would have foregone,

The ease I would have chosen,

Would naturally have left my soul a shell, stifled and frozen.

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And so as I look back on it

This life of love, taking, giving

I know the path was the well-laid plan of an entity ever-living.