*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

After traveling all the hours

With accolades and flowers

Pummeled by the road

I sit down like a toad

And pause to observe

Both the truth and absurd

If I have a twitch to my lip

Or a swipe to my eye

It may be but a slip

Who knows why

As I sit on a stool to ponder

The meaning of life

My mind begins to wander

To the start of strife

And remember when

Faith, hope, and perseverance

Were not mere tokens

Of circumstance and chance

But the willingness to engage

Wholehearted in the endless dance...