Wordle 709
prowl, beast, claws, shift, mask, strands, twists, temple, wandered, underworld, map, thread
The Labyrinth
“The seeker is the sought.”
— Rupert Spira
The path winds around
Not outward, spiralling in.
No need for Ariadne’s thread here
He’s not trying to get out.
Getting out is not the end,
Not the goal he’s searching for.
So, when his focus shifts
From the temple to the paths
That twist and turn, seemingly at whim.
It slowly dawns upon him—
The underworld is not below,
It is found to be within.
There is no map to guide him—
He is the map, it seems.
He had wandered, prowled
Around the edges of this maze
In the earlier days of his quest
But fearing the enclosed beast,
The Minotaur of fear and doubt,
That prowls the darkened corridors
That traverse across his mind.
The eyes of fear, the claws of doubt,
They pulled him from the edge.
Now, denying Ariadne,
The strands of silken threads
Lead him further in, not out,
And there, in the silence
That was always there,
The mask finally falls away.
He is the temple.
A very different take I fear I am not and never will be the temple - though I am certainly the pain and the fear.
ReplyDeleteAnother view: Imagine you’ve spent your whole life thinking you're a wave, afraid of crashing—then suddenly realize you’re actually the ocean.
DeleteNothing has changed, but now you’re free.
A change in perspective can mean everything. I'm glad your MC figured it out.
ReplyDeleteA mask that falls away is always a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI love this! You made me feel the experience of walking that labyrinth, finally coming to the centre, and the opening up of that realisation.
ReplyDeleteI love this, and it resonates me that view that we carry the worst within ourselves really
ReplyDelete"The Minotaur of fear and doubt/That prowls the darkened corridors/That traverse across his mind." This is so powerful!
ReplyDelete"The underworld is not below, It is found to be within." And if finds it there, what is to be concrete? Not the edge.
ReplyDeleteI love a contemplative labyrinth walk, My minotaur dwells within and sometimes the rhythm shifts it a little. Loved this deep poem.
ReplyDeleteHe is the map, it seems.
ReplyDeleteHe had wandered, prowled
Around the edges of this maze
In the earlier days of his quest
But fearing the enclosed beast,
The Minotaur of fear and doubt.....well........what a resonation with me
...seriously good stuff.....stunning to be honest, opens my mind — Ain
The underworld is not below,
ReplyDeleteIt is found to be within.
There is no map to guide him
He is the map, it seems. Love this It is all found within and love the last two lines as well
I love the Greek mythology allusions, and your poem is wonderful and laden with meaning. We all have to navigate our internal labyrinths and either choose to destroy the Minotaur within, or to learn to live with him - with or without an Ariadne.
ReplyDeletePowerful poem, J. We are whatever we think we are.
ReplyDeleteVery Zen.
ReplyDeletePK