No Dragons

There be dragons
A friend feared,
Contemplating retirement;
I, however,
Had fewer fears
And ventured
Into the unknown,
The wide open space
Inviting me,
Coaxing me,
To step
Into the void.
Eyes closed,
I jumped –
And immediately
Was lighter,
Lifted by unseen hands
Into another dimension –
Not a void at all
But layer
Upon layer
Of life.

I did not participate in last week’s haiku and photo challenges because of my impending floral activities so was looking forward to new words to tackle this week. However, Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge words ‘dragon‘ and ‘invite‘ and Sandra of Wild Daffodil’s photo challenge word ‘layer‘ were just not willing to be contained in seventeen syllables and quickly built up like layers of bricks into the poem above. The photo of the wall (supporting rambling rose ‘Snow Goose’) was an afterthought – but in hindsight I realise that life is indeed rather like a brick wall, built of interconnecting facets, each layer adding more depth to what has already been built and making a structure which, if laid on a strong foundation, will stand firm in stormy weather. For me, retirement has added many further layers to my wall of life – mostly in fancy brickwork too – and there is definitely no sign of any dragons…

Thank you to both Ronovan and Sandra for throwing down the weekly gauntlet and also to Sandra’s young protégé Miss E who provided Ronovan with his challenge words this week.