TELL ME

tell me, as we get started, i can see by the lines on your face
so full of expression ready to speak for themselves, are you ready to tell me  how you persisted in your pursuit of telling a good story how you sweated through each line hoping to make
the next one better than the last-as you brought your prose to life
tell me how you toiled night after night beneath the glow of a
60 watt bulb-as you struggled till dawn making the words
grow wings having them soar from page to ceiling, as you let each
word take flight, and through it all, it was never enough as you
made your way through, chain-smoking, the whole time until each
blank page was filled one by one, word by word, captured
precisely on every page, as you envisioned, breathing life, you
exhaled in relief, no matter how tired, not stopping, always driven
so tell me - in your pursuit to succeed; sometimes driving you mad
still, knowing the outcome- tell me, through the stress and strain, as you claimed each  small victory, tell me, what you know now, accepting all the failures, does one success out-weigh defeat- tell me when you look back over your life, so tell me was it worth it?

by Michael Perry