A poem for a friend

Paie,

I hope Mary Oliver’s “The journey” will inspire you to trust your inner voice and pursue your passion. I first came across it when I was already on the track of my journey. I know how difficult it can be when you want to start the arduous and long journey because I have gone through that before. But then, if you trust your inner voice and pray hard, Insya Allah you will be fine, my friend.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff finger
sat the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.


-Mary Oliver