the way opens: follow it

the trueness of the calling

Oscar Wilde: 

“Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken.”

now that’s a truth, 

but still it’s an effort

to separate the kernel from the chaff,

to have within a judge, 

so on your side,

that you can know which path to follow

in the trackless wood we call growing-up:

when to follow a parent, a peer, as guide,

when to follow your own calling,

and then how to know what’s a true calling

and not a calling to be false,

to be able to weigh each inclination

and know which is wanting of substance

and which is heavy with rightness.

Be yourself, as clearly as you can,

as the way opens,

and you choose which way to follow.

by Henry H. Walker

March 18, ’15