Sesheta's 21 Days of Poetry Challenge II

The Right Road

Written in a slice of rock
Displayed on my windowsill
"Do not think you are on the right road
Simply because it is a well-beaten path"

Struggling to find myself
Walking a trail not always of my choosing
Making mistakes to learn hard lessons
Basking in the limelight of triumphs

Words haunt my steps
Derision and ridicule and contempt
Warring with advice and compliments
Never able to blend with the crowd even while following

The easy road slopes gently
Beckoning the lazy and unimaginative
Stifling anything too new or too different
Condemned to conform and wither away

Discontent I walked away
Found strength to break free
Determined to stay true
To the vision of me inside

Rebelling against the rules
Pushing at the edges of confinement
Momentum carries me farther
Than I ever thought I'd go

Accept mistakes
Tolerate others
Keep walking - always walking
Learning who I am

I broke the mold
I left the pack
And know not once
Did I ever look back

Make my choices
Though it lost me
Many friends and companions
Along my way

One final lesson in store
Took years to worm in my head
Because staying alone and away from the main
Is yet another rut to fall into

I am who I am
I watch where I walk
Sometimes I am alone
Sometimes with the crowd

The hardest part is to always know
This is where I want and need to be
I am what I am and
I hope to always walk my right road


Prompt Subject: Free For All (Any topic you want!)
Word(s) to use: free
Word(s) not to use: [none]
Other requirements/restrictions: At least 15 lines