Occasion Sixty One

Poetry

on counting trips around the sun
today marks number sixty one
with more behind than left to run
i'm doing all i can get done

there's time enough i can suppose
to deal with these this that and those
it's mine to choose what time i spend
whose words to hear, how much to lend an ear
which whiskey to consume which beer
how bold to be and what to fear
i grip the wheel firmly as i steer
from tragic times in time i rose
and will again until i close my eyes

let this be no surprise to you
i rejoice at my life in view
of what i've done, what i might do
in love's bright sun
the gifts i won in life, my wife
my daughters and my son
and everyone
whose blessings i have gained
and every lesson, every pain
every wrinkle, every stain
i bear and yet will not complain

which parts in total sum outweigh
the good or bad i cannot say
in gritty strife or deepest debt
through darkest days i can't regret
what i survived to make me stronger
than the biting dogs
i lasted longer than the lies
in grabbing gravitas did i grow wise
enough to navigate the fogs
and demarcate the demagogue's
denial of my soul?
am i awash upon a shoal?
go 'head and doubt me thomas, i am whole.

as such i am or might yet be
i feel the world in my embrace
and from my peak to every sea
i'm not compelled by any means to chase
such fortune that would bury me
in any mask but virtue on my face.
that's not my race
i'm in my place.

on counting trips around the sun
i've had my trials, had my fun
i recognize prime number sixty one
so trust me son, this man ain't done.