There’s a man standing at the end
He said, “I’ll welcome you but only when
you walk the length and breadth
gasping for air and cursing the depth
of the suffering you can’t overcome”

It’s a path not a nail my son

There’s a woman standing at the head
She said, “Be born into this misery instead
of thinking it’s something more or less,
it doesn’t mean what we all bless
or any of the things we have become”

It’s a path not a sword my son

There’s a mist floating you cannot find
It revealed something to your mind
“It is not where there is water or dust
or within the heart of shiny things that rust,
but you are deaf because you only play a drum”

It’s a path not a stone my son

There’s a light alternating between dim and bright
It waits while you gather for a life without sight
But what guides you will not speak as you wish
It only feeds those starving for bread and fish
While you walk with those who will not come

It's a path not a judgment my son