the car is packed,
the paper is stopped,
the door is locked;
the trip we have planned for
after a lifetime of work
stretches out before us
on the horizon:

dare we throw away the map
and go down unknown roads?

the monthly report
was due 5 days ago,
the accounts do not balance,
the boss is standing
over my cubicle, tap-tap-tapping
his fingers on the wall:

dare i get up
and follow that stranger?

My physician says
it's all in my mind,
the experts tell me
there is nothing they can do,
mt friends and family
insist that i learn to live with it:

dare i take heart
and reach in trust?

Is that a double-dare
i hear, Entreating God?

(c) 2005 Thom M. Shuman