..."sometimes our veils are pushed away for a few moments, like there's a wind blowing it from our faces. And when the veil lifts, we can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again.  We see all the beauty, and cruelty, and sadness, and love.  But mostly we are happy not to. Some people learn to lift the veil themselves.  Then, they don't have to depend on the wind anymore."

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

The journey by Mary Oliver

one day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began

though the voices 

kept shouting their bad advice. 

and you felt the old tug 

at your ankles.

"mend my life!" each voice cried,

but you didn't stop

you knew what you had to do.

though the wind pried with its stiff fingers 

at the very foundations;

though their melancholy was terrible.

it was already late 

enough; and a wild night.

the road full of fallen branches and stones.

but as you left their voices behind

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds

and suddenly there was a new voice

which you slowly 

recognized as your own

that kept you company 

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world 

determined to do

the only thing you could do

and determined to save

the only life you could save