a healthy optimism

block upon block


I look out at the world
and I project a reality that feels right to me,
and often I win the bet
and the wonderful person, I believe before me,
manifests--
and the student who could slip away steps forward,
the friend who could disappear stands beside me,
the person I hire reveals the artist within him,
and each of us is still with realities
that express themselves to remind us
that our selves and our relationships
continue to be works in progress,

the Pollyanna in me doesn’t always get it right,
I can be the mark to another’s sting
as they who fall pull at me to diminish with them,

I know that my optimism
only gets it right some of the time,
I also know that my optimism is true all of the time
for it supports the best of me
and it keeps me adding block upon block
so that I can be ahead in the counting
despite all the tragedies
when anyone subtracts from the combining,

I mourn for how much the loss is their loss,
and I celebrate how often belief in another
releases the best in both of us.

by Henry H. Walker
March 7, ‘09