A path so long, so many trails found
Continents, loves and sorrows
A life rich with so many tomorrows
Now waits the last beat to sound
So long ago I had a start
Quiet interrupted by a slap
A breath from nowhere filled a room
To join an already beating heart
Barriers set to help protect
Slowly removed as growth ensues
Goals now set as one pursues
New walls to climb with each project
Successes are stories by others told
Merits worn and hung on walls
Defeats accepted, bruises dressed after falls
Losses shaped, then turned to gold
Paths converge and disappear
Clouds form but no rain falls
Sunshine looms but somehow stalls
The charted way is never clear
And so I start out on my own
To chart a path as yet unknown
To find a place that fits my need
To shape a life, a spirit freed
Seas are crossed, finding place to thrive
New love found, a path to follow
A life takes shape, no longer hollow
A ship once adrift, sailing to survive
But soon a new storm will arrive
A test for man to stay alive
Knocking at the door to test our will
A testing that leaves me better still
And as I hear the last beat sound
A final thought not too profound
Crosses mind and fills the room
To fall on family set for gloom
A better life could not be sought
Than being part of such a dream
Where giving is a basic theme
And taking but an afterthought