LIFE IS A JOURNEY

~ thereluctantpoet

By Charles Robert Lindholm 

each day is like a journey on a frontier trail
the fellow travelers change depending on the
time, place and destinations
fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives,
friends, relatives, classmates and coworkers come and go 

you expect to have some people as partners, spouses, children, parents,
for most of if not all of your journey
others may leave or stay behind and you miss them
but it’s not like losing a partner 

somehow your mind blocks out the real possibility
of losing a child or a spouse
then one day the unthinkable happens
life on the trail has claimed one of your partners 

the sun rises and your heart is filled with such pain
that you think you can’t go on
there’s a grave with a cross at the side of the trail
or a spouse that’s heading down a different road
and doesn’t want you anymore 

you wait a few days or weeks in that spot
hoping it’s just a bad dream
hoping that one day in the twilight
you will see them in the distance returning
it never happens 

your life has changed
you’ve suffered a tragedy
you are grieving and
don’t want to travel on 

but life is a journey
and the seasons and passing travelers
are constant reminders of your need
to keep moving on, but you don’t 

then one day at sunset you feel different
peace has softly and quietly settled into your soul
and the pain you’ve been going to sleep with is gone
acceptance has put the pain to rest 

the scars have finally formed
for the first time since that fateful day
you look out on the horizon
and feel an urge to break camp 

life is a journey
it brings us a whole range of feelings
joy, happiness, love, contentment,
hurt, pain, suffering and loss
just as it changes the landscapes we see
and the one’s that change on our face 

there’s acceptance of what has happened
but a certain sadness will always remain
as you look at the cross or the fork in the road
that took your loved one away 

there’s a final wish that things could be different
but you remind yourself that they’re not
you do what you never wanted to do
you’re forced to finally let go 

slowly you turn away from the past
and know that the time has come
life is a journey
the time has come
the time has come
to move on 

Copyright © 2017 Charles Robert Lindholm – All Rights Reserved

6 thoughts on “LIFE IS A JOURNEY”

  1. “The time has come to move on” powerful words. In a certain moment those words are so heavy to even pronounce them, to accept them. But then, as you said in the poem, we come to realize it is time. The sad part is how long is that time. Life is a journey, indeed. Xo

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    1. Thank you Davy!! So glad you enjoyed this! Moving on is an emotional journey to be sure and it isn’t always easy or a fast process to get too after a breakup or a loved one passing on. It’s something we all have gone through or will and the sweet peace that comes, if you let it, is a comfort and a joy!
      Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting it’s just the end of process of grieving when the scar on the heart is finally finished healing.
      Thanks so much for your great comment. Great to see you!!
      Chuck

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