the world beyond

There is a world beyond the one I know.            
I know it’s there, it’s in the books, and
I hear the stories, legends, myths; and so
they call to me: those tales of grand  
adventure, love, and opportunity.
I long to leave but I cannot; perhaps
because failure and uncertainty
exist in that world beyond, where maps
can’t guide you through the grey twilight,
hazy, unsure; that place is but a thought.
But I am afraid of the things that might
be, and all of the things that might not.

​I must dive into that great unknown, lest
all I have dreamed of, worked for, fades to dust.