Only One Road

PEAR

The milestones do not mark North and South.
Exclusively.

Nor are they limited to West and East
Deliberately.

Sometimes the path we trek is nominal.
Magnetic north

May turn the polar world right on its head
Quite whimsically.

Oh sure, the scientists will ply their trade
With logic cold.

While those who may cavort with seraphim
Use comforters.

The point is that the summits which we reach
Wear camouflage

To those who view the world through filtered lens-
Some quite opaque.

Man orients himself with simple tools-
A compass may

Be all he needs to mark his current place
Upon this globe.

Another may chart streams or mark the Sun
As it makes way

Across an arbitrary arc of summer sky.
On sunny days.

And knowing where the moss grows may assist
In indicating

Where I should go, or where I may have been
Sometime today.

But only I — and God — can clearly say
if where I stand

Is truly a step up, or down. I am
A tiny speck.

I think I have made progress — left or right
Or up and down.

But only I can speak in certain voice
With confidence.

To say I’ve done my best on one fine day
Will need to do.

And that perception makes the difference.
I think it’s true.