The Journey - Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew

What you had to do, & began

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice-

though the whole house

began to tremble

& you felt the old tug

at your ankles

"mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, & a wild night,

& the road full of fallen

branches & stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

& there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper & deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do -

determined to save

the only life that you could save.