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.