I am older now
And I have reached the mountaintop
But I am not ill
Nor is my time short
No more so than any other sane man
If that is how I may be able to live

Rational
Hopeful
Sober

I carry nothing on my back
No deeds to draw upon to quench my thirst
Only a mind full of conscious humility
And regret

My silent face is a sign of contemplation
For vanity and pride die where the air cannot be set on fire
My heart beats slowly like a peaceful creek
Fed by unknown headwaters
A confluence of  spirit and silent motive

I see how I have measured myself wrongly
For what glory upon which man may dine
Is of benefit to my dead body?
I desire only the destruction to a legacy of pleasure
For now I see the journey has just begun

Each plateau of discovery
Met by one of even greater challenge
Where men of ******* echo their stories
I made haste from the dangers of the unknown
Where men of privilege boast of their medals
I lingered with what I have always known
But what concern was it to the clouds that gather above me
For their charge is to rain and thunder upon every man equally
But what is equal to one who must shame those with an umbrella?

I will not have the use of the tools upon which I relied
For they are as beneficial as a feather for a rebuke
Or a cane for forgiveness
My legs have reached the end of their useful life
And I have no wings
There is no emotion that will carry me beyond my excuses
Grief, joy, bewilderment
None can avail themselves of purpose to me

We are all walking on a grade of sliding pebbles
Some of us realize it more than others
We all live with uncertainties that can happen at any time
But what is uncertainty when the top of the mountain is all there is
Is it the uncertainty of our marriage to disappointment
Or how to live born into ******* whether enslaved or ignorant
What we must find within ourselves is the discovery
For the mountain is only another obstacle before the doors of freedom

To be free
It is a choice
Right or wrong
To believe or not
To know where another man may fail
You may succeed
And to know the full measure of another man lies within your patience
And your desire to give him all the time he needs