Before the Induction

This morsel of being wide-eyed for a while

With wonder of beauty and purpose of life

Labors through our bearings in fear and delight

While carving a path for those who come behind

Like Modern-day pioneers we find our place

Settling midst the mayhem of human race

To find here a neighbor and win there a friend

While we with life’s laughter and sorrow contend

As leader and follower onward we climb

Both student and teacher in the School of Time

Blessed by a grace we cannot take credit for

This morsel of being woos us to a Door

From which there is no turning back; only this

A long compensation for that which now is

...a morsel of being wide-eyed for a bit

Before the induction to the sum of it

© Janet Martin

What are we leaving behind for those who follow?

My memories of a man whose funeral visitation I am attending today, are of a kind, patient husband in the garden with his wife. who, crippled at a young age by a disease, leaned on her cane as they weeded their vegetables...