Poem-a-Day Prompt 17: Write a How To _____ Poem.

Start this way: take a good long look  in the mirror.
Then look into the mirror of the mirror.
Make those reflections dance together a while.

Choose a new name.

Lay out the maps, the cards, the itinerary.
Plot and plan, scheme and dream.
Then be ready to throw it all into the wind
if the need arises.

Trust that the Universe will guide you, give you signs,
but sign up for the work yourself, and keep your eyes peeled.
Struggle.  Struggle hard.  The struggle is the whole point.

You will be handed challenges a plenty,
but there will be gifts in abundance also.
Sometimes these are as hard to accept as the challenges.
Time will come when you think you have arrived,
completed your tasks, done your work
only to be hit with another wave of
insecurity or loneliness or loss.

Don’t let it throw you for a loop.
There will always be dragons to meet.
Let them be your teachers.

Pick up stones, make cairns,
trace the journey in pebbles.

Watch for the changes in light.
Mourn the road you did not choose
and move on the one you did.

You’ll find it, around the very next bend.

I am learning quite a lot through this daily process.  Today’s big lesson is to not wait to write my poem until I am dropping from sleep.  Check out Nancy Willard’s “How To Stuff a Pepper” for a really excellent how to poem.