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The Path

People believe that they create a path for themselves but
the path does not quietly conform to what people intend.
Either it drags people onward until suddenly
there they are, stranded in failure at the edge of a cliff,
or it deliberately dives into a flood, forcing them to leave it.
Seeing this, people claim that the man-made path teaches
the wisdom of living, not the other way round;
equally they claim that it calls people abroad
and shows them every kind of place and way of living;
that is how it instructs them in the principles of life.
So they believe that such is all the path's intent.
They do not realize that the path leads people
from the outside inward
and obliges them to scrutinize their own hidden depths.
The path only grows subservient to those who know
that it leads not outward but inward,
embroidering itself with flowers, increasing their scent,
casting a shadow and enabling people to cool their sweat.
People who once know that will never be heard to claim
that it was they who made the path they took.

-Shin Kyong-Rim