Instead of mountain walking up
I circulate a lake
this year my birthday quest ends in
a journey I can’t make
For once imagining my years
more behind me than before
I contemplate my daughter’s stay
Where I’m just a visitor
I opt to live with wiser stakes
In how I eat and live
Creative time and dancing nights
Determined to forgive
Days move fast, they barrel quick
And plunge toward a quick fate
I walk in circles, don’t look up,
And now I’m thirty-eight.