THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

PICTURE COURTESY: www.hoopgirl.com

As I walk down the dusty path,
I do not look where I step
I do not fear where I step
For I feel safe,
I find safety in my shoes.


But as I walk further,
I begin to feel left out
For my shoes engage the earth in chatter
While I listen to echoes of their conversation
I the master,
My shoes the servant,
How can the servant make the master jealous?


I command the shoes
I am the shoes
For they cannot walk unless I walk in them,
So how can I be jealous of my own shoes?
How can I be jealous of these shoes?


But I am jealous
For my shoes engage the earth in conversation
While I find comfort in echoes of their voices
Bouncing off the rock faces
As I walk this lonely path.


I attempt talking to my own shoes
But I cannot hear them speak back at me.
They seem more interested in the earth than me,
They seem to enjoy ridiculing me.


In a fit of madness
I take those shoes off
Flinging them into a thicket
I then rise, begin to walk
It is then that I begin to hear
But what I hear is no echo,
I can hear the earth speak.


My son, what do you seek?
Success, I respond
I have waited for far too long
I hear it resides at the tail end of this path
I cannot remain a part of the dark,
I must amount to something
I seek to become light
That drives away the dark
I seek to become day even at night.


From then on,
I no longer hear the earth speak,
All I hear is the sound of a beating heart
Travelling through the soles of my naked feet
Right through to the top of the hairs on my head.


The further I go, the stronger the beat,
I feel the sands urging me on
And within the sands I discern success speak
Feeling closer to success,
I break into run
Drunk with thoughts that I may have found success.
I remember days when I met cul-de-sacs, no access
When my feet were adorned in abscess
Like those of a lost Himalayan sherpa.
Days when I roamed the streets of this city
Like the monster of Loch Ness
Unkempt and a total mess.


Lost in a daydream,
I trip and fall
Bruise my hands
I feel the thorns in my feet
I soil the face of the earth
With my bleeding feet.


I continue to hobble on crying feet
For I can still feel the earth beat,
I no longer walk the earth,
I have become a part of it
And it a part of me.


As I go along,
I see the chameleon
But it refuses change colour.
What a sight,
I hear the crows rustling among the leaves
But instead of caw as they usually do,
They choose mimic the sound of my footsteps
As though I were the star in some disturbing movie.


As my path begins to narrow,
My feet begin making a rasping noise
Like that of a saw sinking teeth into wood.
I feel the earth’s heartbeat
Slowly begin fade distinctly into a gentle
Tapping sound
And then, it magically disappears.


Lo and behold,
I stand before a massive door,
It stands without hinges,
I cringe
For I feel the hinges within me begin cringe.


I see windows that hang in space
Without supports.
Imagine eyes standing on their own
Without resting in the sockets of a head.
Yes, these windows do not rest within walls,
They stand as though on two feet.


I see the word SUCCESS
Crudely carved into the door.
I begin beating on it like a drum
For I feel success has taken up residence
Behind this strange door.


The surface of the door is uneven
And the splinters begin cutting into my skin,
Yet not even the sight of my own blood
Is enough restraint
I bang and I bang
I continue to bang
Like a bass drummer trapped in an encore. I bang.


I eventually grow tired,
My hands are bloodied,
My clothes crimson red,
I sink to my feet in tears
For it seems my path does end here,
Behind a closed door with success inscribed.


As I lay there,
The door towers over me like a victor,
I the casualty,
In a show of defiance I rise
For I did not come this far to find comfort in my own tears.
I shall peek through those windows,
Maybe I can squeeze underneath them,
I murmur to myself.
Slowly, I march towards the hanging windows
Feet heavy and badly bruised,
I finally reach them
Wiping frantically at them.


As I peer through them,
I can make out the shape of a person
Seated on the floor with head lowered,
A stranger imprisoned in a room
Without walls, only windows and a door.
I wipe harder at the windows,
Blood begins splattering over them,
Then I realize,
It is me seated in there.


I call out to myself
But it seems I cannot hear me cry out to me.
I try making my way past the window
To no avail,
There is no through way,
I’m at a dead end.


Then a darkness begins envelope me,
Casting a huge shadow over me,
I quickly turn only to realize
Darkness eating away the light,
I then begin running towards the light
As my bruised feet begin cry out to me
Stop… stop... Oh please why won’t you stop?
But I cannot stop lest the darkness swallow me whole.


As I make my way back down the path,
I begin to see the chameleon change colour, black,
The crows are silent, they no longer rustle,
Disturbing…….
The clouds are deathly black
And I feel a strong sense of foreboding
Something ominous hangs thick in the ear.


It seems the harder I run towards light
The closer it get to darkness,
I soon realize my arms have left my side,
My feet are in flight away from me
And I no longer run on the dusty path.
I’m floating into the darkness,
Disembodied and helpless.


Then I hear a voice call out to me,
I feel a tap on my shoulder
Covered in sweat
My bed a mess
I turn towards the windows of my room
Only to find them sitting in walls,
My bedroom door sits in a wall,
My feet no longer bleeding
And my arms and legs by my side
I had been dreaming all along.
As I try prop myself up with my hand,
I feel a sharp pain in my palm
Falling backwards onto the bed.
I then go on to remove a splinter from my palm
Looking on, as a droplet of blood stains the sheets red.
Have I just woken from a dream?