Wanderlust

…little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do -

determined to save

the only life you could save.

-from the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, in her 1986 collection “Dream Work.”