the march of time

Soldier On

Soldier on I tell myself

You made it through the worst of it

Tired in the wake of the struggle

To lift my eyes, greet the dawn, say goodbye

To start again

Pausing,

Not so much in reflection

More in stupor

Stultified by the lives I've already led

The first day of summer boyhood summers one after another
The chaos of coming of age like the recoil of a rifle startling
The wilderness of insecurity swallowing time with no accounting
The seasons spent in vineyards rife with love and wine-soaked dreams
The lived-in years of great expectations and grim realities

Stupified I survived it all

Staring out this window at a world frozen for the moment

Not wishing my life away anymore or pining for the past

Willing but not ready to soldier on

Knowing the march of time will take me

Regardless