sometimes it seems
we spend our lives trying to fix ourselves,
this
fragile and subjective human consciousness
bravely steering away from
traveled shores of pain,
navigating slowly through new seas of learning and
change
till we arrive, refreshed, on a stark new coastline
ready to
explore again
the experienced traveler will of course be wary.
there are no guides or
maps,
only the paths created by others, their stories -
so spin me your
tales, dear travelers, that i may learn
how others crossed that sea
and
survived.