The Path along the River

I stood idle and unaware
of what was around me.
I thought of what I would do
if I was still my former self.
A series of inner shifts I can
count around six total.
Seems pretty stable for the
seventeen years of life I can recall.
But I never planned for such
at all.
To change my direction in life
was not the goal.
I wonder where or who I will
be in the next twenty-two years.
A great many things I know.
"Follow the straight and
narrow rivers.
They will provide you water and
meat to eat.
Follow the words of your parents
and your days shall be plenty".
Yet, there are days I don't want
my mother's hugs and a want for my own
strength.
To climb atop a high rock and
show off my chest hair.
To live with the wolves and go against
their teachings.
To fall, escape, and live for me.
But I cannot afford to live foolishly now.
The rapids downstream are unruly,
the forest yields no exits.
Will I reach the height of my ability
before I fall into decline?
Will there be something left for
others or nothing at all?
Will my fellowship scatter to the winds or
beheld tightly to my chest?
The answers are never clear.
I remember "rivers into lakes and
lakes into oceans".
Something big is being created from
the small deeds.
From each stage in life there is more to
live for and see.
How or when I get there is unknown but
its just a matter of time.