Life can take some unexpected turns, and the path to which we have dedicated ourselves may lead through every kind loss and tragedy. But in the end we must simply endure, for life isn’t always easy or fair, and the potential for discovering new meaning and value lies always just ahead.
Endure
The path may wind up slopes of ankle twisting shale,
and over ridges overwhelmed with loss;
yet each step carries on through triumph and dismay.
The path may weave through swamps and belching bogs,
through alpine heights where acid springs bleed lethal streams and ponds,
and over ridges overwhelmed with loss,
only to drop through valleys baked barren by the sun,
until it rises up again to lead
through alpine heights where acid springs bleed lethal streams and ponds.
The path may shrink and seem to disappear
through thickets barbed with venom thorns or leech-filled undergrowth
until it rises up again to lead
through places not unlike the sorrows known before
and on through every emptiness and pain—
through thickets barbed with venom thorns or leech-filled undergrowth.
Through crackled desolation, blasts of rain,
the path may wind up slopes of ankle twisting shale
and on through every emptiness and pain;
yet each step carries on through triumph and dismay.
