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Driving with Ghosts
On the highway of life
there is danger and beauty
and limitless manifestations
of both hate and love.
You may pass billboards of anger
or mountains of happiness
purple and shining.
Traffic jams of despair
and storms that over work the wipers.
There will be pitfalls and pit stops,
Scenic vistas and starless nights,
and so many risings and settings of the sun
The wealth of the universe
all paved in gold
and chased with silver
meandering like a million rivers
refracting a billion suns.
But the road lies ahead and not behind.
All that awaits over the next horizon
is easily missed when your gaze is fixed
on your rear view mirror.
It’s true retrospect is the mother of all growth.
When it becomes our sole focus all is stifled and stagnant.
Love your ghosts.
Know they exist.
Give them a smile when you see them briefly,
then throttle down and eyes forward.
Drive with your ghosts, for they helped shape you malignant or benign.
But never let them take the wheel or provide the directions.
They like to travel avenues you’ve already traversed and have no further need of.
Drive with your ghosts and watch the road ahead.
Your mirrors are for safety and not navigation.
Comments
RoseBlack
Mon, 2023-02-06 19:23
I love this
Everything about this! We can't grow if we don't embrace our ghosts and learn from them. I think the biggest challenge is not allowing them to take over and steer you back down that road already taken. Well done!
~RoseBlack~
Poets Hand
Tue, 2023-02-07 06:17
Drive with Ghosts Excellent Adventure
What a great poem and allegory of life. The poem is very easily read the imagery is foremost spectacular in its simplicity yet profound in meaning. You can tell that I really enjoyed this poem. It is a poem that one feels like when one finds a nugget of gold (not that I have ever found any) but I guess the feeling would be the same. It is the treasure that counts.
Thank you for the enlightenment.
Poets Hand
Hannah
Rosewood Apothecary
Tue, 2023-02-07 06:23
Thank you
This is an older poem. I hadn’t found Neo yet so I’ve got a bit of a backlog. I was stuck and I needed to pull myself together. I started writing and I found it was absolutely an indispensable tool as far as processing difficult feelings. It’s also a good outlet for reactive behaviors like anger and frustration. I can write how I’d react, read that, see how ridiculous it sounds, crumple it up and throw the paper and the reactive feelings in the garbage where they belong.
Thanks for reading and commenting
Tim
Candlewitch
Tue, 2023-02-07 06:34
dear Tim,
would you consider this for a first line: (out on the golden highway?) it is just a suggestion, so don't feel pressured to use it.
the whole poem is fantastic, gently laying out a lifestyle plan. I think you should enter this for "poem of the week" Bloody brilliant!!!
*hugs and love, Cat
*
When someone reads your work
And responds, please be courteous
And reply in kind, thanks.
Rosewood Apothecary
Tue, 2023-02-07 20:18
How about
On the gilded highway of life
???