The Golden Road to Samarkand

Go as a pilgrim and seek out danger
Far from the well lit avenues of life.
Pit your soul against the very unknown,
And seek stimulation in the company of the brave.

Experience cold and hunger, heat and thirst,
And survive to see another challenge and another dawn.
Only then will you be at peace with yourself
And be able to know – and to say:

"I looked down on the farthest side of the mountain,
And fulfilled and understanding all, and truly content
That I lived a life that was my own choice."

We are the pilgrims master,
We shall always go a little further.
It may be beyond that last blue mountain, barred with snow,
Or beyond that angry or that glittering sea.

White on a throne, or guarded in a cave
There lives a prophet who can understand
Why men are born: but surely we are brave,
Who take the Golden Road to Samarkand

——James Elroy Flecker