life = valuing & choice

Being True

I think, therefore I know that I am,
where I am, and where the other lies,

I feel, therefore I know how I feel myself to be
and where I want to go,

it is only in decision, in the valuing of alternatives
and then the choosing
that we are the selves we want our selves to be,

do we even exist when we’re still?
does not life equal change?
think a minute, consider, how does experience inform your answer?

I’ve watched toddlers given choice after choice,
except for the choice not to choose,
and I’ve wondered what that’s all about,











is choosing itself the sculptor
who takes us unformed and gives us form?
form that we create with every step we take,
we become who we must be
as our valuing forms us true,








I feel most sure
when I feel most intensely,
with the laugh, the sob, the smile, the tear,

I know who I am
when I am able to love another
and to help the other know and love themselves true,

the world is cold
and each of us has a fire within
that can hold back indecision
and let the actor in us
value, choose, and succeed in being true.

by Henry H. Walker
June 7, ’11