IF IT WERE

if it were as easier said then done
we would aim for it, still our time
here is short, most of us, are satisfied
to accept what we know, what lies ahead
so we will make  more from less, ready
to collect the free card-in this game of life
that continues to play on, and we count our
blessings- each one, looking from here on out
as if  our life depends -and it does, still we know
the opposite is true, as a  prisoner kept, we are
given to the sentence that calls for a term
of years, that will drag on without, having no end
in sight-making the choice that much more, crystal clear

By Michael Perry