I had been right
more often, wrong
I learnt, reinvented
as I moved along

in life's varied terrain-
thousands of voices
I heard, as many of books
I had patiently read
but nothing of note
was comparable
to what I felt
and thought-
how I struggled
with myself
and how I fought
to make sense
of the best way
to live
with meaning

not to follow
the ways
of the lot
who sought
to educate
and guide me
to stop
me from
being my own
to draw me away
from my rock-solid spot-

life--
the meeting-ground
the endless encounters
of self and the others
the discussions
the dissensions
the differences
the setbacks and bothers

what will lead
me to my salvation
is to trust
and believe in myself
before my life
ends in oblivion