ROADMAP
by Mario Benedetti
translated by Maria Popova
I found it in my pocket / it was a roadmap
I knew not where it led
but I followed it anyway in aimless wanderlust
with all my nostalgias in hand
it was an atlas of the soul / of consciousness
of what I have committed and what awaits me
on the ground I saw footprints that were my own
and so it was a path already trodden
the vastness of before had vanished
everything was stronger, surer
suddenly I landed on the riverbank
the river that had always been my longing
only then did I heed my own advice
I tucked the path into my pocket once more
and there it remained, awaiting
another tomorrow