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Joan Zaruba Apr 15
The summit looked so far away
We started walking anyway
Sometimes we spoke
Laughing and teasing
Sometimes we fell silent
Looking and listening
Sometimes we needed a brief rest
sip of cool water
granola snack pulled from a pack
Then back to the hike
Walking and walking
As the trail ascended
Navigating rocks and sand
One step and then another
Until we looked up and realized
We made it to the summit
The place where we started looked so far away
from the top where we now stood
Thrilled with ourselves and the view
Happy to have made it there, together
The land never looked so alive
the sky, so blue
As it did from that summit view.


© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.
This poem narrates my experience walking with family to the summit at Airport Mesa in beautiful Sedona, AZ.
Part of me wants to hold the pain
the way I wish I could hold you
it feels more productive
than letting go.

How can I allow
the process, the universe, god
to take care of itself, when there is pain?

As if the preoccupation with the possibilities,
will protect you more than my prayers
as if the pain were a sentinel.

I hold the pain as a dagger.
Stabbing into the darkness, into the void.
Fending off invisible foe, parrying against suffering.

No one leaves life unscathed, and so I fail you.
I cannot protect you from life.
My honor is tarnished.

My love, please know,
I will be here when you are happy,
And especially when you are sad, scared, lonely.

When life bears down, and the weight is too much,
I will be here, prying apart the dimensions,
As an anchor to reality

My precious one,
You are beloved since always.
This love has always been, and always will be.
When all returns to the great silence,
This love remains eternal.
To my most venerable teacher, my highest honor, my greatest challenge. To my son.
Rowan S Feb 2019
**** bookends
**** closure
**** the black and the white

**** the knots
******* neat
Cause that really ain't life

Life's messy
There's dirt
It's not simple and clear

It's the road
It's the journey
And the path you take there
YoungSymba May 2015
Here I'm at this point(the present) standing placidly and astoundingly glancing at the zenith with wishes of reaching that peak and pinnacle of success. One step at a time, till you learn how to fly and I've heard a few say "patience is a virtue" and I believe so too,I believe patience is a harvest that's fruitful and can only bring forth happiness. Greatness takes time to acquire and for you to discover it within you requires qualities such as determination,patience and ambition. Those play a vital role for you to embrace that greatness.




As I reciprocate to my thoughts and reminisce about the years gone by,a phenomena occurs..I get a vivid glimpse of the future. Marvelled at my willingness to catapult beyond confinements. I give thanks to my inner peace that sources of this confidence so I could unflinchingly go toe-to-toe with any obstruction that gets on my path.


I live my life aware that with each breath I take I'm blessed therefore I'm appreciative of each day I get to live. I strategically calculate the steps I have to take to land me on the podium. In patience,occurs unnatural omens which signify the skies never receiving your hope. So even if I fail along the way I could never be inclined to give it all up.


P A T I E N C E = G R E A T N E S S
Patience equalises to the discovery of greatness. I wrote this when I had hope. Thinking back to those years gone by I know I'll make it to the top. I'll never use my circumstances as a scapegoat for my misfortunes. I don't know if this is a poem but I just wrote something someone out there can relate to.

— The End —