all one can do is do

the view in front, and back

when I get right down to it,

I realize that the view out my rear-view mirror

is so much longer than the view in front of me,

I do what I can to better my odds

at getting around the next curve,

at being here to see what’s over the next hill,

around the next bend,

today I pushed myself miles up a mountain

and miles back,

lungs and legs protested,

and I worried about it all,

yet I made it up,

and back down,

again,

like my mother said about walking the neighborhood,

once you stop, you will never be able to do it again,

all I can do is do

and hope that exercise and diet,

meditation, and medication,

honesty and hope, will help me

travel further than I fear is anything I can deserve. 

by Henry H. Walker

December 5, ’14