“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”
The Golden Way
Come and walk with me, I said
I’ll show you a new road
A path of clear and glittering thread
To take you where you’ll go
The Golden Way it’s called, and I’m sure you’ll love it too
On it you can walk your life
So come and join the
Queue
This path is one the many take
And its ways are proven true
With safety, caution signs and maps
There is no better view
These airbags are for breathing
This seatbelt for the dance
So come and join us straightaway
Without a backward
Glance
On the Golden Way you never ask
You just walk and don’t look down
We mapped it out before your time
No need to look around
The road this way is smooth and bright
Wide and straight on through
No need to watch the steps you take
Just the ones ahead of
You
No more winding trails of wood
Too dark and grim to bear
You can’t see past the thick of trees
What if you never get there?
Or trip while stepping on a rock
Or fall and scrape your knee
Too many risks that you could take
What’s life without
Guarantees?
That’s why the Golden Way is here
To save you from that stress
If you walk the path that many take
It’s bound to be the best
So enjoy the road of silver and place your feet on gold
And never think again about the former dreams you’ve
Sold
There’s just one risk upon this path,
I’ll tell you it in full
That leaving it will bring all hell
And wreck your very soul
I’ve seen people who have left
They’ve gone and scraped their knees
They say the woods are prettier
But they’re blinded by them, please
For who would want to venture out
And make their own new path?
If they’re smart they’ll stay right where they are
And never again
Ask
This path is one the many take
And its ways are proven true
That if you whittle yourself down enough
There’s nothing left of you
Who wants to stand out from the crowd
A target for our knives
Or follow dreams you once possessed
Away from prying
Eyes
Yes, the Golden Way is cold
The metal makes it frigid
But in time your feet will numb
And you’ll be glad that it existed
For cold feet cannot bear
The twists and turns of life
The forest is our greatest fear
With all its unknown strife
So walk this path a while, and soon enough you’ll stay
It becomes your only option when you know no other
Way
R. Poynter
December 2016
This is amazing. Observant. Intuitive. Edifying. Pride-inducing (well, for a DaD anyway).
This might scare people, but I think this poem applies to a lot of situations, not just hypotheticals as romanticized as, for example, the Lady of Shalott.
My favorite part is:
“Who wants to stand out from the crowd
A target for our knives
Or follow dreams you once possessed
Away from prying
Eyes”