Sometimes, Go Back

Sometimes we have to go back to go forward.
Sometimes the answers to what lie ahead
are behind us.
We forgot to bring everything with us.
We mistakenly brought too much. 

What did you lay down, like a crayon,
in the middle of drawing your life?
What thread did you lose in your story
as you washed the dishes, 
and worried over what to wear?
And what did you pick up that was not yours?

What have you been carrying for someone else?
Whose burden do you bear,
whose actions did you claim 
as, somehow, your own fault?

Sometimes the answers are behind us.
Sometimes we have to go back
to collect who we are
and return who we’re not.
Sometimes we have to go back 
to go forward.