Mariana Andrade

The moon in the bureau mirror
looks out a million miles
(and perhaps with pride, at herself,
but she never, never smiles)
far and away beyond sleep, or
perhaps she’s a daytime sleeper.

By the Universe deserted,
she’d tell it to go to hell,
and she’d find a body of water,
or a mirror, on which to dwell.
So wrap up care in a cobweb
and drop it down the well

into that world inverted
where left is always right,
where the shadows are really the body,
where we stay awake all night,
where the heavens are shallow as the sea
is now deep, and you love me.

Elizabeth Bishop

No matter where you go, or how you do it, your destination is always only one – your own self.

No matter how many excuses you may find appropriate to justify your behavior, there is always only one – your need to run away.

No matter what people say, what you obediently agree with and encourage others to think, there is only one truth - your pain is your fuel, your most powerful impulse.

No matter how uncertain and tricky the new path may look, there is only one way – follow that.

That is when you realize that you have been building this new path yourself, picking up chattered pieces of soul, little tiny bits of  hope, sudden gushes of mild breeze, refreshingly new. 

Then you realize that friends and family count more than you could have ever believed. Only then, but only after experimenting solitude, rage and peace, cold and heat, passion and total loath you get to know that this is your path.

There will always be moments of (un)controlable desperation, muffled screams of pain caused by badly healed injuries, but also, there will be moments of the most profound demonstration of self love, respect for your rights, acknowledgement for your achievements and a deep feeling of self satisfaction for who you are and what it means to be following this specific path.

It does not matter. It really does not matter…