A to Z

He changed location,
damaged his vocation,
all because he thought
that it was right,
that it would make her happy.

Another man refused to quit,

accepting ridicule, demotion
so that he could still provide, 

because he thought, as had
the other, it was right.

Both men, though going at
it differently, were noble,
don't you think? To sacrifice
themselves for others, even
if it might have turned out
better had they not, there's no way
one could speculate.

The heart, the great eternal why,
is always more important
than the what or where.
The who - yes. That's important, too,
and as they each look back he
sees that she is not the sort
to be appeased or pleased,
not ever. And the other's family,
now grown and caring for their own,
are grateful that he loved them.
Also wistful that perhaps he missed
great opportunities, now and
forever gone.

And both these men perhaps were
unaware that something far beyond
them was at work to move and prod,
suggest and give a nod in one direction
or the other, for purposes known
only to (you must have seen this coming)
Father God. What an idea,
that he would use a nagging wife,
or difficulties throughout life to take
us from point A to B and on to C so
that some paths would intersect,
and others take us far away from where
we thought that we'd end up,
and now see that, despite the setbacks
and the pain along the way, the point
we are at now is best of all, the other
points upon the map, some nice, some
not, a necessary process on the way
to D and E and maybe all the way to Z.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014