Release

Release

Jan 9

Written By Dane Dowell

There she waits,

My ship beside the dock.

The sun ascends the eastern sky.

All is ready to depart.

Steady, I walk down the floating pier,

My stomach in knots,

My blood thickens—it clots.

The internal dissonance plagues my mind:

Am I crazy to leave it all behind?

This struggle to escape the daily grind—

I seek something more; I yearn to find.

Perhaps I’m ignorant, perhaps I’m blind,

But to tolerate mediocrity, I’m disinclined.

In venturing out, I will unbind

Myself from systems that entrap mankind.

Let the wind buffet my face; let worry unwind,

Look up to the stars, now aligned,

Go live a life untamed—unconfined.

In search of a greater cause,

To live a better story,

I pull up my anchor,

Yet many questions still linger:

Will my dreams come up short?

What unseen squalls threaten to thwart?

Will fear and worry, this hope distort?

I cut the ties, it’s my last resort—

I pray for mercy, forgiving support.

For years I’ve lived by numbers and cents,

But in worlds beyond, the math makes no sense.

Fear has been my guiding star,

Its logic woven in my every thought.

But now the sky is cloudy and dark,

And the luster of the world, I forgot.

Different living requires different thinking—

Untraditional answers for untraditional questions.

I must reorient the compass,

Rewriting beliefs once held as true,

Seeking guidance from explorers who

Have journeyed ahead and found anew

Unimagined lands—impossible to construe.

To be open to life, to let it unfold,

To live free of constructs, to defy the mould,

To be part of something daring and bold,

I now must learn to release:

Release all the stories governed by Fate.

Release the anger for what life is not.

Release the need to complain—

All the sadness, all the pain.

Release the weights still grounding me.

Release the life as I hoped it would be.

Release control, release perfection,

Release the boy, his innocent reflection.

Daily I struggle to let go of the anchors,

But I know the comforts society would laud—

The wealth, possessions, and status we applaud—

Fail to deliver the peace they promise.

So, I wrestle with faith, with hope, with God,

Believing there is wonder in the paths I’ll trod.

In my heart,

What I seek,

At my core,

Is to be awed.

Lighter now,

I unwrap the rope from the cleat.

Untethered, I push off from the pier,

Honoring what was with a single tear.

My sights on the horizon, where I do hear

The siren’s song echoing in my ear,

She calls from afar, drawing me near.

With courage, defying the grasp of fear,

Onward, to Destiny, that fabled frontier.

As Captain, I give the first command,

Setting my course for a distant land,

Embracing a journey—mysterious, unplanned.

I’ll navigate the oceans, rough though they be,

Cresting the waves in the heart of the sea,

Each blow to the bow, defying the norms,

With valor, I weather the fiercest storms.

At full mast, wind fills the sails,

I go in search of the unknown trails.

Beyond the port into open waters,

I say goodbye to what has been.

At last, my soul has been set free—