Double Dare!

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,
my friends and family
insist that I learn to live with it:
dare I take heart
and reach out in trust?

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

(c) 2005 Thom M. Shuman