It is easy
to walk a right path
when others around you do so.
It is far harder
to walk a good path
when others around you fail
and flounder through the wilderness
or walk down darksome twisted trails
crying for you to follow.
It is easy
to respect the good Earth
when you live with Her under your feet
and all that you have
issues forth from Her bounty.
It is far harder
to remember Her when you walk on cold poured stone
and buy your food in little tins.
It is easy
to honor the spirits of the land
when your people bring you up to know them.
It is far harder
even to know them
when those around you make a mockery
of their very existence;
it is harder then
even to find those spirits in the first place.
It is easy
to treat people with kindness
when they return it.
It is far harder
to teach kindness
to those who never knew it.
Yet this, too, is a Warrior's Way
to go down the fractal paths of the world
pointing towards the Light.
A Warrior chooses the right way,
not the easy way,
and that indeed is the only thing
that has ever made a difference.
~Elizabeth Barrette~
Published in Sage Woman No. 72
