the school of hard knocks

when the going gets tough

when the trail is rough, steep, & slick,
I need attend fully to each step,

for, when I escape the moment
and fully visit memory or plans,
my feet can slip
and the present can school me with a hard knock,
to tell me, old school, to pay attention,

still, I can work to be here at my feet
and in the grok of all around me,
if I switch my focus back-and-forth
at a time and in a way that honors both,
I am even more present in the moment,
and, if I can find the right moment
and expand myself into past or future,
I am even more in the moment,
for the moment is framed
as one frame within a successful movie
I hope to produce with my life,

still, I have to watch it,
for the price I pay for slipping
gets steeper the older I get.









by Henry H. Walker
July 16, ’11