Where I Would Be

If you had asked, twelve years ago,
exactly where I’d be today,
         I think
         I’d say
somewhere on the brink
of some discovery,
or writing my second symphony.
    But really? I just didn’t know.
 
    And if, twelve years ago, I’d read
great books, or studied more,
                   or fought
                   to score
that string quartet, or bought
some dancing shoes, or sailed the sea,
well. I don’t know where I would be.
    Maybe I’d be dead.
 
    The truth is, even now I don’t
pretend to know what I’ve become.
         I’ll say,
         in sum,
I’m happy where I am today,
and questions like that don’t bother me.
Or maybe they do bother me.
 
    You too?
         I won’t tell if you won’t.