path

today,
i embarked on a journey on
'the path'.

with each step i took
i felt the gaze of the land
i had trodden past,
left behind,
and i wondered if like
wild animals
the ground would pounce
if i broke eye contact
with the past.

to turn around is to validate
that the road already traveled
persists beyond that time it was allotted,
so i kept my eyes fixed on the horizon and fled
away,
not out of fear nor pity nor disgust but a strange blend
of pain and excitement.

the endless void is not empty.
if it was empty, it would not be endless.
it would simply stop right there, at the edge of
emptiness.

no, the abyss is full of matter churning outwards
since never,
so much stuff that i could not hope to process,
not in my lifetime, not in a million.

and brewing in that dense universe the path coalesced into form,
nd i embraced it.