She was a born change-maker.

Though she meant no harm,

situations and people made major shifts

when she came on the scene;

and by the time she had moved on,

no circumstance remained untouched,

not even the condition

of her own heart.

For life sent her into strange events

that puzzled her for many years,

until she came to see the pattern

of enthusiastic beginnings,

her being filled with pluck and hope

for what could be accomplished,

only to be met with anger,

stone walls, and rejection

from those she’d come to help.

In early days an innocence

had encouraged her to sally forth;

but now when a deeper nature beckoned

that she should seize a perilous cup,

her mind recalled in vivid scenes

the enigma of her lonely path,

in reluctant recollection

of the burden she would bear.

For even though she welcomed change

as life’s essential principle,

most folks did not—and blamed her

for the consequence of their own deeds

that her presence had simply

brought to light.

She felt self-doubt impeding her path,

and so questioned her ancient mentors.

But these masterful ones,

from their wiser view,

had never found her behavior strange;

they cherished her disruptions.

And counted as grace her propensity

to ignite the fresh enlivening flame

that rouses those who nap so deep

they do not care to dream.

For wise ones know from ages past

that till sleepers finally reconnect

with their own great master plan,

there can be no magic in their days

nor lasting sparkle in their nights.

Someone must summon the winds of change

to rearrange complacency

and turn inertia to soulful action

filled with conscious longing.

And the sages always meant, of course,

for that someone to be her.

So now, when Fortune calls her name,

the catalyst may sigh aloud

in profoundest human reluctance;

but she, nevertheless, accepts the task

to wrestle with the enmity

of those who in their secret hearts

yearn to shake off the hypnotic trance

imposed on them by a drowsy world

that fears the soul

on fire for life.

She lives to learn and love and teach,

to see the once-dull animate,

to feel the sudden surge of the few

who catch the wave

of her inspiration.

And then she knows her passion’s reward,

as they claim the birthright that is theirs,

turn back to bid her a grateful farewell,

and disappear bright-eyed for good

over the horizon

of their destiny.