Wondering

Sometimes nodding turns to dozing,

And then dozing turns to dreams

Of lives not really lived at all.

Yet in those dreams it seems

Mystic moments wink an eye,

Of the lessons partly learned

On the paths we might have taken

If our lives had that way turned.

So waking finds one wondering

Of the lives you left behind,

And we poke the coals of memory

Not knowing what we’ll find.

There are ripples and tsunamis,

To startle and surprise

With promises and questions

From long forgotten eyes.

Did we really miss the turning

That led some other way?

To lives with different endings?

To new dawns of other days?

Could the casts of other dramas

Lure me down that shady stream,

Where tranquil waters call me,

Back to sleep, perchance to dream.