A Growing Realization

Nearer and nearer comes the time
when I’ll no longer be able to look back

I see it inch forward on the horizon
with every rise and fall of the sun

I see the edge of a cliff draw closer

Beyond which I’ve never seen before,
and never thought might be a home

Nearer and nearer comes the second

I’ll be thrown off

I feel how the reigns tighten,
how they arrange for their lives after I’m gone

I feel how the ship steers straight,
forgetting its other destinations in the past

Nearer and nearer comes the moment
that I step out of this world

Into a one where I’m more alone,
yet free to become new

I’ll step into a world where I craft myself,
create ambition, build my life

Among all the strangers I’ll meet there,

I’ll meet myself

The time is coming in which life starts anew

But old in that I’ll put to use
what I’ve learned thus far

There will be questions
that I must answer myself

There will be people who I’ll choose to
keep or cast aside

There will be more opportunities to stop,
but more reasons to continue

Nearer and nearer comes the time
when I’ll have to rise to its occasion

And make sure that it will be different
than what it is now

—By Renee O.