The Labyrinth

I stood outside looking in And then One step Took me into the beginning of what I anticipated would be some sort of Illuminating quest An adventure of some unknown Latitude and longitude Mysterious and exciting I followed the path exactly as it was Laid, quite evident before me Well-worn territory so many others Had traversed before Breathing in the green grass Splendor, a recent rain making the air Wet like a moist kiss From a beautiful maiden Tempting me further into the Heart of my story As I closed into the center of the Circulating pathway of this magnificent Garden, I was met by a small statue of a Youth, boy or girl I could not tell Standing quite calmly Naked and innocent In that smooth Greco Roman artfulness That conjures the perfection of the human Form Head bowed humbly Peaceful and compliant No anxiety or fear In the youth's folded hands, waist high Someone had placed a clump of moss And a small bright red fruit Plucked mindfully from some exotic Plant nearby I watched as a tear dropped Or so I thought, from the downcast face And settled into The soil that touched the hands So reverently I let it sink in But time bade me continue The unraveling of the spiral Backwards or forwards I wasn't at all sure Both seeming to coincide Incidentally In the winding I Watching Found myself, on level ground Going Downhill Passing others On their own meditative journey Filled with the import of their own Significant wanderings Following what I realized Was the exact same path, but Oddly parallel In a different time, at a different Pace, yet somehow all of us Returning to the exact same Place Finally, my adventure was over The spot where I entered had now Become my exit And yet this was how I knew it Always would be I was reluctant to leave I paused there at the edge Ever so briefly Feeling the consequence And knowing the way I took my last breath Full of all the wonder of being alive And I savored the moment I said my goodbye Then one last step Out of the labyrinth and into Whatever it was that eternity Offered A new beginning or a comfortable End. ~ Laurence Overmire