Now is the time
to save a few more dollars
to work a few more minutes
to hold my chin high and keep my head low

Now is the time
to drink the youth of my children
to absorb the wisdom of my parents
to cherish this tumultuous moment as I glide beyond it

Now is the time
to cultivate a little vanity
to straighten that picture; to fix that door
to eat a little less and stretch a little more

Now is the time
to learn that language
to write that book
to explore that horizon
to sample that restaurant
to contact that long lost friend

I have struggled through the hopeless battle
I have lost more that I had
I have thought myself bled and dead
and yet
I have picked myself up off the ground

I have begun a new chapter
with company I did not expect
with resources that are insufficient
in a terrain in which I never intended to stay

I have wiggled out an unexpected harmony amongst the debris.
Now (somehow) I survive.
And so

Now. . . .