Crossroads

Frozen under the streetlamp I stand

though it is not the cold

causing me to shiver.

The street abandoned and the night dark.

Most have already settled in for the night.

The overcast has hidden the stars from view.

Fitting that one of the few things

that has brought me comfort these past few months

is absent.

For months I have thought about this moment.

Though it is as I stand under this streetlamp

That I realize

This is it.

I'm standing at the crossroads of my life

and I have a decision to make.

I could keep going down the path that I'm on.

Walking further into the night

away from everything I have ever known

knowing that I could never return.

Or I could turn back.

I could go home and things would continue as they had been

this moment never to be spoken of.

I feel like I have just snapped out of a trance

With the gravity of the occasion finally sinking in.

I stare blankly in front of me.

For one minute

then another.

Eventually I turn around

slowly walking back in the direction I came.

Maybe tonight I wasn't meant

to arrive at these crossroads

after all.