"Traveling Light"

'Do not ever let your mind go,'
advised the Frog.
'For when it goes, it doesn't return.'
He gestured to the room
where all the children lay.

'It is not a matter of living,
nor a matter of dying.
It is what you keep inside,
who you are within,
that keeps you alive.'
the Frog told me that first day,
and every day since.
'Always keep your youth
and you will always live.'

I inquired as to the process of age,
cancer, sickness, the fear of the
needle.
He only laughed,
shook his head.
'The sickness attacks from
within, my child.
It is when you hurt inside
that you get sick
on the outside.'

And so we argued
for I don't know how long
and I don't care.
He was patient with me,
enough to answer
all my questions...
And then some more.
But for each question that I presented,
he had a clever response.
One that made
me think.

'And therein lies your answer!'
the Frog said as we diverged.
From the fork of the river,
the fork of life,
one of the many roads
not treaded.
Where the river is calm,
the path is dust,
and all you need
is
your
mind.

~*~

© Ashton R. 2006 and beyond