Lately, I’ve traded strides for stumbles
Shouts for mumbles
Pride and joy for being humbled
Roads that once seemed straight are jumbled
Storms of life rage on and rumble

I guess before I rise, I’ll tumble
And hope my foundations don’t crumble
But if they must, I’ll build anew from the dust
And the rubble

The season has come for dreary skies and leaves of yellow
As our Mother tries to give us beauty in the mellow
Before summer dies and winter says hello

I find such delight in harvest red and pumpkin orange
One of my best friends just flew to Florence
And I wish her the best
As I stay in the MidWest
Still learning to prioritize my rest

She asked if I’d make the effort to visit
I said I’d get back to her in a minute
Sadly, airports have a baggage limit
The weight on my chest doesn’t fit within it

I’ve been told the only constant is change
The hope amidst this hurt is strange
It’s a new feeling
It’s a new healing

Flipping through the books I read in my youth
Tapping back into some long lost truth
My legs ached the other day when I walked for a mile
It’s been a while
Longer than I thought
I somehow forgot how to carry myself with these feet
Aren’t we such feeble vessels of bone and meat?

Trudging through this delicate story
People tell me my twenties should be a time of glory
But I’ve been a little less adventurous, a little more cautious
The place I’ve been the most this year is a doctor’s office

I’m a little less present and a little more bitter
But it’s given me the space and time to reconsider
Who I am, what I do, what I want, what I make
Where I’ve been, where I’m going, what I’m here to create
In the last two years, I’ve been brutally bruised
But I’m learning to live with the stones in my shoes

I’ve been known to be too obsessed with it all
I oughtta put it to rest, my grandkids won’t recall
The days my hair was wild
Or the wrinkles in my clothes
But the wrinkles in my smile
I hope they remember those

This year went by fast, and for once I’m okay with it
I feared my hope wouldn’t last, but I’m sustaining it
Last fall, I had to give myself a reason
To believe I could make it another four seasons
I was saddened by the sweet autumn days I was missing
But I told myself the leaves will fall again
Now it’s 2023, my love and I are kissing
As we feel a pleasant breeze, and I’m taking it all in

Still not quite where I’d like to be
I’m getting there
The life I seek feels far from me, but I’m aware
That I can’t take this old debris and just repair
For trees don’t reach for fallen leaves
With branches bare
They begin anew
So I will too