The Choices We Make

 

How many times can you drown in a lifetime,

how many times can you drift out to sea?

How many times can you skirt the abyss

before you are doomed to fall in, helplessly?

 

How many times does the wrecking ball swing

before it collides with the walls that you’ve built…

how do you cope when your hope turns illusive

and you’re stuck in the mire of self-doubt and guilt?

 

Where do you go when there’s no place to go to,

who do you talk to when you feel alone;

caught up in those wishes and dreams unrequited

as you wander on back-roads and byways unknown.

 

Do you concede when the dark overwhelms you,

and scream at the gods for every detour—

curse them and blame them for all of your ills

and all of the trials that you must endure?

 

The struggle is constant to fight or go under

our strength may not falter but sometimes it stalls;

we push our way forward, one step at a time,

through all the maelstrom, the darkness, the squalls,

and all of the what-ifs that tear us asunder

knowing the choice that we make says it all.

 

© Ginny Brannan 2022