symbidium

I found a good book of poems a few days ago, about "journeys". Perhaps unsurprisingly, after not very long, I was moved to tears. Some were the more well known, The Road Not Taken, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening or Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night - but many I hadn't read before, including this one below, really rang with me.

No Sense of Direction - V. Scannell

I have always admired
Those who are sure
Which turning to take,
Who need no guide
Even in war
When thunders shake
The torn terrain,
When battalions of shrill
Stars all desert
And the derelict moon
Goes over the hill;
Eyes chained by the night
They find their way back
As if it were daylight.
Then, on peaceful walks
Over strange, wooded ground
They will find the right track,
Know which of the forks
Will lead to the inn
I would never have found.
For I lack their gift
Possess almost no
Sense of direction.
And yet I owe
A debt to this lack
A debt so vast
No reparation
Can ever be made,
For it lead me away
From the road I sought.

A very wise person once told me that if ever I felt overwhelmed and needed any kind of real emotional support, turn to poetry. There is always a poet who has been there before you, struggling with their emotions and writing amazing poetry about it.