Here Be Dragons!
The beaten path is very wide,
Trodden smooth by countless feet,
Wearing it deeply into the land,
And cutting a track through time.
I was content for many years,
Happy to follow where others led.
Then one day the path ran out,
Ended abruptly with a sign,
Rimmed in red, that ran:
“Warning! Here be dragons!”
I stood some time alert,
Watching for flames and wings,
And yet none came in sight.
I waited on, still unsure
Until a single step I took,
Passed into blank uncharted lands.
And still the dragons didn’t fly,
Eager to devour my presumptuous soul.
A second step and then I found
My feet were on another path,
Thread-thin but strongly felt.
And then I knew beyond a doubt
What the warning sign had meant:
Beyond this point, you become
Those very dragons that we fear.
