The Confluence

The path diverged, a choice laid stark and bare, Two separate journeys breathing different air. One winding upward toward a sunlit peak, The other shadowed by a murmuring creek. We walked those ways with purpose clear and bold, Our individual stories to unfold. Different landscapes, different skies above, Nourishing separate dreams, distinct with love For what lay forward in that singular track, No turning back, no looking far aback. Then came a clearing, unexpected grace, Where boundaries softened, time lost all its pace. The sunlit slope descended, gentle, slow, The shadowed creek began a brighter flow. A meeting point where whispers intertwined, The echoes of our solitudes combined. Not a collision, sharp and full of jar, But a slow merging like a distant star Drifting closer shedding lonely light, To share the vastness of the coming night. What happens when two currents start to blend? Do edges blur, do separate journeys end? Or does a richer river start to surge With mingled depths, a more compelling urge? Do we lose pieces of the selves we knew, Absorbed within a vision fresh and new? Or find expansions, territories unknown, Strengths amplified, no longer walking lone? Is it a compromise, a yielding of the will, A subtle bending, standing slightly still? Or a liberation from the narrow view, A wider vista painted fresh and new? The merged way stretches onward undefined, A tapestry of what we leave behind And what we gather in this shared embrace, A different rhythm, a new time and space. The wind now carries harmonies unheard, A blend of whispers, every single word Inflected by the journey we have trod, A testament to finding common God Or common ground, or common heart's desire, In the crucible of a shared fire. So let us walk this merged way hand in hand, Exploring landscapes neither fully planned Nor fully known with open hearts and eyes, For in this blending, new horizons rise. And the path ahead, though different than before, Holds the potential for so much more. ©bfa041325 )