The Next Plateau

The Next Plateau

written by: Bruce Levine

Roads taken
Following twists and turns
Roads less taken
Often straight
But often less scenic
With fewer variables
Fewer variations
Fewer vistas
Fewer paths to the next plateau

Trials and tribulations
A sing-song melody
Weighing and measuring
The fears of the unknown
Hills and valleys
Criss-crossing a rocky terrain
On a topographic map
Drawn with disappearing ink
On antique parchment

Yet the next plateau remains
Fixed in reality
Fixed in the subconscious
Fixed in the soul of the believer
Spreading out like a picnic blanket
On the bank of a river
Filled with rapids
Filled with the swift current
Of a waterfall

Beautiful in the sunlight
As it spills over a cliff
Carrying dreams
To new paths
Shaped by the river
Carved into canyons
And a new reality
To be climbed
To the next plateau

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• About
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Bruce Levine

Bruce Levine is a Pushcart Prize poetry nominee, a Spillwords Press Awards winner, and a WestWard Quarterly featured writer. Over three hundred of his works are published on over twenty-five on-line journals including Literary Yard, 5-7-5 Haiku Journal and Spillwords: over seventy print anthologies including Tipton Poetry Journal, Poets’ Espresso Review, Creations Magazine and WestWard Quarterly. He’s the author of the chapbook Sweet Dreams and is also a classical composer. A native Manhattanite, he now lives in Dover, New Hampshire where he maintains an active theatre, music and academic schedule.

Latest posts by Bruce Levine (see all)

• The Next Plateau - March 27, 2026
• Christmas at Macy’s - December 17, 2025
• The Night of All Nights - October 30, 2025