One Step at a Time
By John Herlihy

Animal comforts there to be had,
Dressed as a pauper, in jeans clad,
Sleepless nights and fitful dreams,
Eating until you burst at the seams.
Happiness has refined and ragged edges;
It sometimes appears as the form of pledges.
Breath for the taking, dew on my face,
Grinning or growling at the human race,
The warmth of the sun, the heat of lust,
We face life’s demands as we know we must.
Long perfect nights kept safely in store;
Waves lapping quietly on the distant shore.
Full moon mounts the line of the horizon,
Blinking sleepily like the eye of a bison.

Life is what it is;
It takes away what it gives.
No missed opportunities,
No loss of beauty or grace,
No failure of youth or adolescence,
In adulthood no loss of face,
Nothing abandoned or surrendered,
Nothing lost or forgotten,
No lasting miseries, no regrets,
Only events that everyone forgets.
No lottery or capital gain,
No enduring success or lasting fame,
Just one step at a time,
In a life that I call mine.