A Poem Offered To Beyond

ANON.    Having read some of your books BEYOND and The Immortalists , I decided to make a tiny contribution – that may or may not interest those who follow your website blogs.

           YOU LEARN

After a while you learn

The subtle difference

Between holding a hand

And chaining a soul.

And you learn

That love doesn’t mean leaning,

And company doesn’t mean security.

And you begin to learn

That kisses aren’t contracts

And presents aren’t promises.

And you begin to accept your defeats

With your head up and your eyes ahead.

With the grace of a woman or man

Not the grief of a child.

And you learn to build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow’s ground is

Too uncertain for plans

And futures have a way of falling down

In mid-flight.

After a while you learn

That even sunshine burns if you ask too much.

So you plant your own garden

And decorate your own soul

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you

flowers.

And you learn

What you really can endure

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth.

And you learn

And you learn

With every failure

You learn.