The continuous loop, where I know every turn,
Leaning inward at the slight curve,
All familiar, all easy, it’s all beginning to blur
Lap after lap of routine and automatic responses.
Trapped in the rut of this orbit –
Circling stability and comfort.
Too scared to put in the effort
To break free and be more.

Tempt me to explore unknown terrains,
Push me from the valleys and the plains to the insanely high summits.
Shatter the chains that keep me on the beaten path
Profane the common and shame the recognized.

Stop, slow down, stay steady, race ahead, pick up the pace,
No movement and exuberant strides all fall
Into the same groove of ‘this too has been done before’
It’s all the same, no ground gained, no leverage lost; even score
Of zero. Neither negative nor positive because nothing has been accomplished
Enough to judge or grade. It’s a toy train parade
All motion and no result, all cause and no effect.
Guilty, though unproven, of speeding toward nothing.

Tempt me to explore unknown terrains,
Push me from the valleys and the plains to the insanely high summits.
Shatter the chains that keep me on the beaten path
Profane the common and shame the recognized.

Give me a goal to guide me –
Lend me your hand and stand beside me.
I wish to be driven, focused and committed,
With a destination worth the travel.

– Jessie Gutierrez