She stands where the river blows her hair wild

no youth and no favor for her
no hands to clean the salt licks on her skin
her palms are dreams wrinkled dry
yet craving an offer.

You come from a distant land, she says,
heavens bless you.

I got no small change, I respond,
my mind drifts to ponder,

a small change, I need that too,
always hungered for
and faltered through
like I missed the vessel narrowly
to be on the river's other side.

Maybe when I come back,
I turn toward her.

She was gone.

Life is a game of Chutes and Ladders
At every step you roll the dice
What you think really doesn't matter
Each day you'll either climb or slide

With every move you take your chances
You will either rise or plunge
Don't ask me, I have no answers
You'll never know until you're done

Where every step along the way
Is a case of do or die
It makes no difference in how you play
With every day a roll of dice

In this game of Chutes and Ladders
That some out there fondly call life
Where your next move at any given moment
You will either climb or slide

This years resolution
With much considered thought
After all this time find that I
Will give it all to God

Because this world to me means nothing
And holds onto even less
Than what I see I could ever need
Or even care to have

With the aging of this eyesight
The more I tend to see
What is important to my walk
And this tender heart in me

This year I'll get more excersise
But this time of the spiritual kind
Learn to love the Lord much more
With all my heart, my soul, and mind

To wake up each morning early
Feeding on the Bread of Life
Share the cleansing blood of the chosen one
To other souls in kind

I will learn to love my fellow man
Unconditionally
That what will shine will be Jesus' light
When they see or think of me

I will pray to God without ceasing
In every circumstance
And take each day along the way
For the blessing that it is

This years resolution
With much considered thought
After all this time find that I
Will this time give it all to God

one step forward, two steps back
that is how most of us live
in our daily circumstance
one step forward, two steps back

progress made is progress spent
wondering where it all went
always late to the main event
one step forward, two steps back

running right while leaning left
taking back what we've been given
what we lack in our goals met
one step forward, two steps back