"Upward" - Bahamas AI Art
©A. Derek Catalano
This poem reflects the journey of self-discovery and the nuanced quest for life’s purpose.
Find Your Purpose
In the hush of dawn, where shadows breathe,
A whispered question stirs beneath—
A gentle pulse within the heart:
Where am I going? Where do I start?
The rivers glide, the forests grow,
And stars above in endless flow—
Yet here you stand, a restless soul,
A wanderer seeking to feel whole.
Not in the roar of distant fame,
Nor titles stamped beside your name.
Not in treasures gold can buy,
Nor fleeting glimmers passing by.
Your purpose hums beneath the skin,
A song the wind invites within.
A hidden light, both fierce and shy,
A flame you guard without knowing why.
To find it is a tender quest,
A winding road with no request,
But patience, courage, and the grace
To meet your doubts and not efface.
The Labyrinth of Becoming
You may descend where darkness lies,
Through valleys veiled by misty skies.
Through failures’ whispers, you must tread,
Through dreams half-born and fears well-fed.
There in the labyrinth of your mind,
Illusions crumble, truth aligned.
When walls of comfort start to break,
The first raw tremors will awake.
For purpose hides in cracks of stone,
In moments when you feel alone.
In broken paths you try to mend,
And in the will to rise, defend.
Listening to the Silence
Listen, not to noise of the race,
But to the quiet in your space.
The world is loud, its pressures keen,
Yet stillness blooms where thoughts convene.
A fleeting image in a dream,
A thought you feel, though hard to deem.
A calling felt but never heard,
A language without written word.
It beckons in a stranger’s need,
A chance to help, a humble seed.
In kindness given without claim,
Or sparks ignited by one’s name.
The Compass of Desire
Desire, though fickle, points the way,
To passions that refuse to sway.
What makes your spirit blaze with heat?
What calls you, lifts you off your feet?
Purpose is forged in what you love,
In hands that shape, in hearts that shove.
In art that bleeds from veins sincere,
Or wisdom earned through quiet tears.
For every soul holds a design,
A compass placed by hands divine.
An inclination, pure and true,
To offer what only you can do.
The Courage to Create
Yet purpose calls not just to see,
But to create what’s yet to be.
To build the bridge from thought to form,
To weather doubt, to ride the storm.
The blank unknown may loom ahead,
Its void a canvas steeped in dread.
But in that space, you dare to write—
Your life’s great poem, day and night.
Mistakes will smudge, some pages burn,
But purpose lives where lessons churn.
In trying, failing, trying more,
The truth you carve becomes your core.
Offering the Self
Purpose blooms not in self alone,
But in what seeds of light are sown.
In lifting others, you ascend,
Your gift becomes a world to mend.
A whispered word that lights a flame,
A hand that heals, a child’s name.
A bridge of hope through time and pain,
A promise kept through sun and rain.
The universe in tangled grace,
In every heart, has left a trace.
A role, a spark, a fleeting chance,
To join life’s endless, sacred dance.
The Journey Beyond the End
And when at last your breath is still,
And silence fills the final hill,
May echoes of your purpose sing,
In every life you chose to bring—
A touch of meaning, light, or hope,
A widened path where others cope.
For purpose never truly dies;
It dances on in endless skies.
So seek not just the grand and vast,
But in each moment—make it last.
For purpose lives within your stride,
Not just a goal, but how you ride.
In how you choose to give and grow,
To honor all you’ve come to know.
Your life’s great meaning, formed and found—
A steady pulse, a sacred ground.
In the hush of dawn, where shadows breathe,
A whispered question stirs beneath—
A gentle pulse within the heart:
Where am I going? Where do I start?
The rivers glide, the forests grow,
And stars above in endless flow—
Yet here you stand, a restless soul,
A wanderer seeking to feel whole.
Not in the roar of distant fame,
Nor titles stamped beside your name.
Not in treasures gold can buy,
Nor fleeting glimmers passing by.
Your purpose hums beneath the skin,
A song the wind invites within.
A hidden light, both fierce and shy,
A flame you guard without knowing why.
To find it is a tender quest,
A winding road with no request,
But patience, courage, and the grace
To meet your doubts and not efface.
The Labyrinth of Becoming
You may descend where darkness lies,
Through valleys veiled by misty skies.
Through failures’ whispers, you must tread,
Through dreams half-born and fears well-fed.
There in the labyrinth of your mind,
Illusions crumble, truth aligned.
When walls of comfort start to break,
The first raw tremors will awake.
For purpose hides in cracks of stone,
In moments when you feel alone.
In broken paths you try to mend,
And in the will to rise, defend.
Listening to the Silence
Listen, not to noise of the race,
But to the quiet in your space.
The world is loud, its pressures keen,
Yet stillness blooms where thoughts convene.
A fleeting image in a dream,
A thought you feel, though hard to deem.
A calling felt but never heard,
A language without written word.
It beckons in a stranger’s need,
A chance to help, a humble seed.
In kindness given without claim,
Or sparks ignited by one’s name.
The Compass of Desire
Desire, though fickle, points the way,
To passions that refuse to sway.
What makes your spirit blaze with heat?
What calls you, lifts you off your feet?
Purpose is forged in what you love,
In hands that shape, in hearts that shove.
In art that bleeds from veins sincere,
Or wisdom earned through quiet tears.
For every soul holds a design,
A compass placed by hands divine.
An inclination, pure and true,
To offer what only you can do.
The Courage to Create
Yet purpose calls not just to see,
But to create what’s yet to be.
To build the bridge from thought to form,
To weather doubt, to ride the storm.
The blank unknown may loom ahead,
Its void a canvas steeped in dread.
But in that space, you dare to write—
Your life’s great poem, day and night.
Mistakes will smudge, some pages burn,
But purpose lives where lessons churn.
In trying, failing, trying more,
The truth you carve becomes your core.
Offering the Self
Purpose blooms not in self alone,
But in what seeds of light are sown.
In lifting others, you ascend,
Your gift becomes a world to mend.
A whispered word that lights a flame,
A hand that heals, a child’s name.
A bridge of hope through time and pain,
A promise kept through sun and rain.
The universe in tangled grace,
In every heart, has left a trace.
A role, a spark, a fleeting chance,
To join life’s endless, sacred dance.
The Journey Beyond the End
And when at last your breath is still,
And silence fills the final hill,
May echoes of your purpose sing,
In every life you chose to bring—
A touch of meaning, light, or hope,
A widened path where others cope.
For purpose never truly dies;
It dances on in endless skies.
So seek not just the grand and vast,
But in each moment—make it last.
For purpose lives within your stride,
Not just a goal, but how you ride.
In how you choose to give and grow,
To honor all you’ve come to know.
Your life’s great meaning, formed and found—
A steady pulse, a sacred ground.
©A. Derek Catalano/ChatGPT
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