by Michael Plante

We are rats in an infinite maze
seeking our cheese to satisfy our hunger
believing the next corner will bring us closer to our goal.
Sniffing the air for direction
rubbing our eyes to remove the crud that has formed in the corners
we contemplate our next move.

There will always be four options
left, right, forward, or behind.
What corridor we travel is what corridor was chosen
sitting still is not an option; we are meant to move.
The travels based on our decisions net us experience.
So we draw from that to plan our next move.

Chasing the cheese is never an illusion
until we come to realize that the cheese we’re chasing is the illusion.
Everything else around us is absolute truth
the walls are real, the paths are there, and the air we breathe sustains life.
When the illusion is recognized, we come to understand
that we are in the dead center of the maze.

I don’t chase the cheese anymore.
Sitting in the center of an infinite maze
I have reached the maze’s conclusion.

Image: Freepix Cute Rat Living Outdoors A.I. Generated