I tend to fill small notebooks with my scribbling and obviously had reached the very last page of one such book when I penned the following.
An Alternative Script
Reaching the end of this book
into which I have poured myself
sometimes rancid with sorrow
rarely radiant with joy
but always thankful for life
Perhaps to know each day
is really a fresh page of a new book
is the way to look at things
A chance to write a different hand
an alternative script
with a better ending
So on this the last
I want to remember and look forward to
all the stories in my life unwritten
that lie ahead just awaiting discovery
The triumphs the deeds
that I can hug to myself
as life on this plain wanes away
The friendships that I thank God for now
and the ones just around the corner for me to meet
And of all the sorrows and challenges
please give me strength for this too
So I won't buckle at the knees
and find my spirit cracked
I don't want to be a horse
carefully broken down to accept
the bridle and bit of life
I'd rather be a rough mare roaming
free on the plains
Discovering all that life offers
finding beauty in the landscape within and without
Unfettered, unsullied, unbroken
and if my feelings get worn
and a bit abused
I'd much rather that, than be iron clad
with the blacksmith's metal
and not feel the rough from the smooth at all
Let the hard surface of all
that I explore and meet
wear my hooves naturally
For a book unopened is protected forever
but what a wasted opportunity
Better thumbed and read, written and turned
than pristine and untouched.
