I drew my future with a ruler, A straight black line across the years. They told me life was always forward, Earn your place. Outrun your fears. I climbed the ladders they imagined, Measured days in loss and gain. Until one autumn leaf fell laughing, And whispered: Nothing leaves. Nothing disappears forever. Nothing travels on its own. The river never leaves the mountain It simply learns another form. Lay down the compass. Time has no border. There is no finish left to find. The circle isn't taking us backward. We were never outside. They counted forests into timber. Measured oceans into trade. Turned the living earth to numbers. Called it progress. Called it gain. They taught us we were workers. Owners. Strangers passing through. While every root beneath the pavement Kept whispering: You belong Nothing disappears forever. Nothing travels on its own. The river never leaves the mountain It simply learns another form. Lay down the compass. Time has no border. There is no future standing still. The circle isn't made of distance. It is made of becoming. The bird becomes the feather. The feather becomes the earth. The earth becomes the cedar. The cedar becomes the fire. The fire becomes the sky. The sky becomes the rain. The rain becomes the river. The river becomes our veins. I searched for answers on horizons. Crossed the deserts of "One day." Then found eternity was waiting In every breath I gave away. No road escapes the turning planet. No heartbeat walks alone. We spend our lives trying to arrive... Never knowing We were home. Lay down the maps. Lay down the ledgers. Lay down the race to be enough. The stars have never hurried. The trees have never traded. The oceans have never asked for more. Nothing is wasted. Nothing forgotten. Nothing stands apart. The Geometry of Return is not coming back. It is remembering we never left.
