perfection is Scylla

perfection, the hard task mistress

perfection is Scylla
and not caring is Charybdis,
and the sane path between is hard to find,

as we go throughout life
we do what we can to do our best,
yet the best possible is never perfect,
and we are challenged by the degree to which
we should be proud of the items checked off
or cognizant of the items that still need a fixing,

complaisance can be tempting
and perfection is a hard task mistress,

our challenge is to feel and act on the charge to do,
and to do well,
and not feel too much the lack of checking-off
whatever items on the list
we haven’t gotten to yet,

and that another notices.

by Henry Walker
August 1, ’12