My Odyssey

by Dan Kleinman - Cancer

My Odyssey

I set out walking with questions in my mind,
I was searching for all the answers that I could find.
I had no I idea where I was going to go,
What was going to happen? I didn’t know.

It was a bright sunny day, not a cloud could be seen,
As I walked across my lawn, the grass never green.
My street was full of trees adding to the view,
Who planted all these trees? I never knew.

I decided to walk north, and I started without delay,
Why had I decided to go north? I couldn’t say.
I walked down so many a street, until I saw no more.
There was no more pavement that covered the earth’s soft floor.

I had come to a clearing, far from all shade,
The grass was soft, so there I decided to lay.
As I lay there I looked up into the starry sky,
And as I lay there, my mind began to wonder why.

Why did I meet all the people I now know?
Where was I, and were was I about to go?
Why am I searching for answers so hard to find?
Why did these questions cloud my troubled mind?

I thought of my future as I quietly lay there,
I thought of my secrets that I would never share.
All these memories drifted through my head,
As I laid on the grass that would soon be my bed.

I woke up to the glorious shining sun,
In the tree-less field, shade there was none.
But I didn’t mind because it was quite a sight,
The endless green fields and soft rolling green hills,
All lit up by the sun’s glorious light.

I walked until noon, and then I walked some more,
Until I came to a forest and sat on the cool forest floor.
I thought about it for a while, I did,
Do I want to walk through the forest?
Maybe inside the answers were hid.

So up I stood and through the forest I began,
Here trees grew, left alone by man.
Quite nice the shady and dull colors were,
They did not cause my eyes to water or blur.

The twig filled brown earth was soft on my feet,
And all the rocks were covered by moss, like a soft green sheet.
The trees that had grown so tall, grew all around,
I was the only thing there that was not perfect, that could be found.

As I walked on, the brown dirt and soil became harder to see,
Here green vegetation had grown from the ground underneath me.
Water gently falling in the distance I now could hear,
A cool shallow water fall, I was now near.
I came to a wall of vines hanging down from a tree,
I pushed the vines to the side and Oh, what a sight I did see.
There was a shallow pond, not one hundred paces wide,
With lush green plants growing around it, on every side.

On the right hand side of the pond was a gentle water fall,
The soft relaxing sound of water falling echoed, as in a cavernous hall.
The rocks from which the water fell were all smooth and gray,
Although the day wasn’t quite done, that is were I decided to lay.

I walked around and collected moss and leaves that were dead,
And upon a smooth rock I constructed a soft pillow to rest my tired head.
I laid down and again stared up at the sky,
And again, while watching the orange sun set,
I began  to ask why.

Why am I here and what led me this way?
What made me become the person, I am today?
For peace, how can one fight?
How can one know who is really morally right?

Different thoughts, in my mind, floated by,
But always the thought was wondering, asking why.
So much I had learned,  yet so little did I know,
How little I had started, how big would I grow?

My eyes slowly opened to a bright warming light,
The pond at dawn was indeed a remarkable sight.
I stared at the leaves that glistened with dew,
Then I noticed that everything here, was perfect too.

The sun was then suddenly blocked by a big black cloud,
The pretty blue sky, the dark mass did shroud.
And from the heavens rain began to fall,
And from a distance I heard  a bird make a mournful call.

The rain fell cold and hard and loud,
All this water fell from that great giant cloud.
So into the cover of the trees I ran,
And the rest of my walk I then began.

Why did I leave my shelter, my humble home?
Why alone, across the earth, was I cursed to roam?
Why did time seem to slip away so fast?
What if I was given one more chance at my past?

To all these questions, answers there were not,
Through my mind all these thoughts rapidly shot.
The weird thing was, as I watched my trembling hand,
They were my own thoughts, yet I did not understand.

So I laid there in deep depression,
As I realized my life was my only possession.
Although depressed I was, in one place I could not stay,
So up I got, and began to walk for the remainder of the day.

I walked on until deep into the night,
Then I stopped and looked at the beautiful sight.
I was on a hill alone, company with none,
From the rest of the world, myself I did shun

Out in the open against a great rock I sat,
Out in the open I was, solemn as a cat.
I stayed up all night watching the stars in the sky,
As I gazed, again, my troubled mind asked why.

Why did people treat me like they did?
Were they the reason that to myself I hid?
What had happened to all the people that I used to know?
Where had they started, and where did they go?

As I sat there thinking, different colors the sky turned,
And I sat there realizing, how little I had really learned.
The sky turned to orange from dark blue,
This scene was familiar, this scene I knew;

My family used to go to the beach and just sit,
As the sun came up, my mom would just stare and knit.
I would watch her with loving eyes,
Within my soul a love for her still lies.

My father would be watching, just enjoying the natural show,
This was his five minute vacation, soon off to work he would go.
I never knew him quite as well as I wanted to,
Just to sit with him, that’s all I wanted to do.

By now the sun had completely rose,
I was grieving about my past, that’s just how life goes.
Now I had realized, I guess I always knew,
That the greatest pain is not regretting what I did,
It’s regretting what I didn’t do.

Yet if I took advantage of every opportunity that came,
I would probably be dead, not even had a chance for fame.
Both sides of the argument balanced, as if on a neat shelf,
Argument? That means I was arguing with my own self!

The sun was now high, and the day promised to be fair,
I continued my walk, when it would end I didn’t care.
How many days had I already walked?
I didn't know, but still I walked on.

The forest came to an end and now I was in barren land,
Too hot it was here, and all I could see was dry yellow sand.
But still I pushed on, for the answers I had to know,
Why was I walking, where was it I wanted to go?

Lucky for me the sun was setting so it began to cool,
But I kept walking, I had to get out of this hellish desert.
So on I walked amazed at how cold it actually got,
Now I was cold, when before I had been unbearably hot.

There was no moon in the sky so where I was I could not see,
But I could feel soft grass beneath my feet and I felt an unexpected glee.
I collapsed on to the earth and hit my head as I fell,
Unconscious I was knocked, and into a deep dream I went, 
As if by some spell.

By simple chance, I met all the people I now know.
I was in the middle of no where, but were was I going to go?
Why was I searching for answers so hard to find?
Because it will bring to peace my troubled mind.

By then I had been out for nearly half the day,
Why I felt relaxed then, it is hard to say.
All the things I saw could drive one insane,
The feelings I felt, it is hard to explain.

I was here because I wanted to be, so here I will dreamily stay.
My friends, parents, and experiences, made me who I am today.
It is impossible for peace, to fight,
Because everyone has there own different morals, right?

As that last thought lingered in my  mind,
A little golden light poured through my eyes.
I had never been so joyous to see,
The world that had lit up around me.

I set out for home, with a few answers in mind,
Searching for all the other answers that I still didn’t find.
Now I had an idea where I was going to walk about,
What was going to happen now? Only one way to find out.
Birth sign: Cancer
Date created: 2001-05-26 11:42:45
Last updated: 2021-04-14 17:18:13
Poem ID: 63068

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