What if
On its way to Becoming
A soul made a wrong turn
Veered right instead of left
Or missed the light?
The body it chose, the world it appeared in
Certainly seemed familiar enough
So it got a good start
And was content
Trouble showed early, though it was easy to miss
It loved animals but failed to understand people
(so attested by a teacher in grade 2)
It loved the arts but could not create and was believed to be incapable of logic
(disproven at university)
It was excited about new horizons but could not get
That for most people this meant travel (in the Age of Aquarius?)
It kept finding traces of the promised land in the world
But they were like mist on a mirage (it’s here somewhere for sure this time)
One day, when it was least convenient, it became wise:
it saw that unlike the others it remained aloof
it realized that “you’ve always been different” was not a compliment
it understood what it was like
To be outside looking in
And this amounted to the disappointing epiphany
that there was nothing wrong with it
What was wrong was it.
The butterfly’s wings had beaten
The sack of rice had fallen
The path less traveled had been the wrong choice
Unhappy accident!
But did it despair?
Not until it also realized that it could not go home
It could not leave until the obligation was fulfilled
Signed up for life!
I see it sometimes
Looking a little lost, a little tired
Searching for the song to take it home
Refusing to give up because it cannot
Even as it wanders, stranger in a stranger land
What if?
New poetry from yesterday with minor correction from the original version.
The Better Life 