You’ll Know
You’ll know you’ve, finally, arrived when
you get to the point where you can leave
life’s bustling marketplace, empty-handed
Smiling easily at merchants as they hawk their wares
of fruit and flesh, pausing here and there to admire
a fine raiment or strain of song, but not for overlong
You’ll know you’ve cleared a hurdle and are home-free
when you emerge at the end of that entrancing fair
unperturbed, without bulging pockets or hungry eyes
With absolutely nothing to show for the day’s visit
but a small inner triumph that quietly manifests itself
in steadying stillness and a companionable aloneness.
© Yahia Lababidi