Waiting

Waiting...
how long do i wait?

Waiting...

i am surrounded by walls of darkness

my little whispered questions go unanswered

i’m crying inside, and no one knows it but me

the answers will come in time

so i’m told by those who have been down this path before

“Good things come to those who wait.”

but how do i know that their good things are my kind of good?

Waiting...

my patience is about as tall as i am short

have i not done all that has been asked of me?

“Patience is a virtue.”

but i’m not feeling very virtuous today

nor was i yesterday

nor will i tomorrow (at least that is my decision today.)

Waiting...

“Wow, what a mean and nasty mood,”

the onlookers remark from the third row of the theater

they were expecting an epic tale of happiness

instead they receive a flop

they demand their money back, but then rent the video

Waiting...

a riot starts

(has this turned into a classic tragic comedy?)

pipe bombs go off as innocent bystanders try to run and save themselves,

but instead trip over their sense of urgency

get away!  for this is no place for the weak-at-heart

(excuse me, but today, i need to leave this place)

Waiting...

for this poem to make any sense

(a satire?  a textbook case of cynical satire?)

Waiting...

to get what i want or to change what i think i want to match what i am getting

if i can’t jump over a 50-foot ditch, how can i jump over the Grand Canyon?

but first, i have to climb the highest mountain,

and swim the deepest sea

and travel through the darkest valleys

but again, that is what someone is telling me

Waiting...

for the right answers to all the questions i haven’t thought of yet

keep looking; don’t let your weakness overcome you

never stop walking towards the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel

(are those walls of darkness the walls of the proverbial tunnel?)

(did i just find an ANSWER to a QUESTION which i did not realize needed answering?)

Waiting...

and somehow, that last surprise called an answer

the one i just stumbled on as if in complete darkness

(and in actuality was in almost, but not complete, darkness)

gave a growth spurt to my once short patience

(and I feel myself growing as well!)

Waiting...

and as my patience is growing along with myself,

I have returned to the now silent scene of the riot

there I have found a haunting sense of peace

and that peace has given my heart some strength it never realized it had.

Waiting...

and the strength that I’ve found in my heart

has pumped the new, fresh blood through my body

and I sprint and leap for joy, and find myself

soaring over the 50-foot ditch AND the Grand Canyon!

Waiting...

and now it feels good to fly

(is that the good they were talking about before?)

and I, feeling virtuous and carefree

(overruling yesterday’s decision)

and as the curtain closes

the audience rises for the well-deserved standing ovation

a fitting ending for the long-awaited talk of happiness

Waited...

Long enough...

and as I fly above the mountains

and over the seas

and spread light into the valley,

my tale of happiness has turned into an epic

and I have received everything I have waited for

(and the audience received what they were waiting for as well)

Waited...

and now I have reached the end of the path which so many have passed before...

and many more will pass through as well.