Chance: A Poem
“Memory Lane”
is in fact a real place
that can’t be found on the map.
To find it,
follow the directions carefully
but you must be willing to take
several unexpected risks.
Guiding your car slowly
along unfamiliar passageways,
passing by peaceful brooks and
cows or horses grazing on endless fields
of grass and grain,
you might not recognize at first
that you’ve come to a particular spot
that might mean nothing to passersby,
but evokes such strong emotions
you have to pull off to the side
and sit for a while, in order to allow
the nonstop rush of memories
seep into your pores
while the other cars pass you by.
This is the place where everything happened.
You know not what has happened since,
nor what will happen after you leave.
Perhaps many people have passed by here,
Or perhaps no one else has ever passed by at all.
There are no signs of your childhood.
No signs of your fears or desires or missed opportunities
or those you decided to try.
It is a patch of land, but it is sacred to you.
You hold it close to your soul.
You carry it with you wherever you go.
Nothing has changed. The light still falls in all the same places.
The trees will never move until someone comes and cuts them down.
The cabins face north like they always did. Stones lie in the same spot
where your foot once sent them.
The sun still rises and sets down for the night
and the stars still come together to portray ancient heroes.
Everything is the same, or so it seems.
Nothing has changed at all
but you.