As a child, I loved those puzzles,
The ones where you trace a line through a maze to reach a goal.
If you hit a blockage,
Back you go, to try again.
Again, again, you know that it's there,
that elusive final prize,
You just have to find the right path.
In life, though, you can't just erase that line,
It's a lifeline, others are clinging to it,
You brought them with you,
You can't just erase their world.
There is no 'try again', so you find yourself,
Up against a wall, and you stay.
You don't want to be there,
You took a wrong turn somewhere,
You can hear and see where you should be,
So close, but there's no way through.
They seem so simple, those puzzles,
It looked like the right way,
But now you're stuck there
Staring at a wall,
Willing it to fall.