On the Road of Yellow Brick – A Poem

She wakes within

the dream to

find herself in

an expanse of

green. A field

of grass stretching

for as far

as the eye

can see. Along

the grass, there

is a road

of bricks, coloured

in a bright

yellow hue. The

colour is impossibly

brilliant, as is

the green of

the grass. It

is as if

the colour here

is magnified by

the sun. She

looks up at

the sky and

sees a bright

orange sun, three

times as big

as the sun

she sees at

home. Looking down

at the road

of bricks again,

she sees a

man standing on

the path, smiling

at her in a

gentle sort of way.

“Where am I?”

She asks, uncertain.

“Well, where did you want to be?”

The man says.

He has dark

hair that looks

to be made

of leaves. He

shrugs and she

sees hay fall

out of the

collar of his shirt.

“It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.”

She nods, even

though she has

no idea what

to say.

“I want my life back. I want it as it used to be.”

The straw man

gives her another

kind smile and

his words are

soft and comforting.

“Well now, I wouldn’t want that. If you went back to the way you used to be, you wouldn’t be who  you are meant to be.”

She shook her

head, the uncertainty

deepening, the unease

she carries with

her in the

waking world alive.

“I don’t follow you. I just want to be normal again.”

The straw man

waves his hand.

“Pshaw! Normal. What is normal? Normal is boring. Normal is a bowl of porridge without brown sugar. Normal is what you want, but it’s not what you thirst for.”

She nodded, seeing

truth in his words.

“I suppose you’re right. I know I’m not like everyone else.”

“You’re special, Kimberlee. So very special. You have a light in you that shines brightly for all to see it. We are drawn to you like butterflies to the sun. You wouldn’t have that light if you were normal.”

The light that

he mentioned

begins to glow

from within her,

as if she is

carrying the sun

within her. She

watches the glow

intensify, even as

the light from

it makes the

road and the

straw man start

to fade away.

“Wait! What do I have to do? What can I do? How do I move forward?”

Even though the

man of straw

was fading from

sight, she could

see him smile.

“What you’ve always done. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep shining and keep living you life to the fullest. Everything else will fall into place. Trust yourself.”

“But why is it so difficult to do?”

“It’s always harder for people like us. You are a bright, beautiful spirit. You will find your way and then the journey on the road of yellow brick will become a joy instead of a hindrance. Trust yourself.”

He said again.

Then the light

that was glowing

from inside of

her grew even

brighter and she

knew the dream

would fade away.

But she knew

that when she

woke, she would

have a brighter

sense of self

and the life

that was hers.

And from that

she drew comfort.

She looked forward

to the next

step she would

take along the

road of yellow brick.