Popping wheelies and building tree houses
Forgotten summer dreams as the baseball batter
Replaced by a mortgage and high blood pressure
Simple youthful pleasures pushed off the platter
Along the way the years melted together
Middle age blurs the victories and defeats
Digging out of the losses to climb again
At the end of life summing up all receipts
Lost in the middle class jungle of duties
Conditioned to accept whatever comes our way
The road selected is now your boundary
Instead of perusing a more desirable destiny
Ambivalent and resigned as everyone else
Lost in the burnt-down candle, reflecting back
Seemingly content with achievements in life
Instead of pushing forward on another track
Imperfect we are, no mistaking the flaws
Tempted and fooled, piling up the penalties
Extolling goodness and the Sabbath prayers
By week’s end we’ve changed personalities
Battling all of life’s tempting seductions
Each struggle peels another layer of kindness
Life’s owners manual is short on instruction
The eye of internal guidance battles blindness
What might have been is now past the horizon
Summer is fading and the year is growing cool
It’s not regret, just offers that have elapsed
Kids with books, our own reflections of school
Born with a blank page whatever the size
Answers are not prefab, instant or easy
Few clues, but lots of space to explore
The lessons are earned, nothing is free
In the morning when the fog burns off
With a hearty breath, study what you see
Wipe the mirror and take a good look
The clues are there, solve your mystery
Ticket 2 Ride 