Randy E. Richmond

SOMETHING ON SURVIVING

I am a staggering soldier who has traveled beyond the middle years
A wobbly warrior, braced for the next inevitable assault

It is written that from the death of any, we are diminished
By degree certainly… but diminished nonetheless

Some pass as an unnoticed pinprick or as the bite of a mosquito which
carries away a tiny drop of our blood

Others come as a dismembering slash of a razor-edged saber or in the
taking of a chunk of flesh as its toll… diminished… never
strengthened for the next encounter, yet knowing it will surely come

And always forward!
There are tears for those who’ve fallen behind us. There are
longing glances but never a backward step
Forward!

I am as the porcupine with its quills turned inward
Paining, piercing every part of my body
And yet somehow… mercilessly
Leaving a weaker, hardening heart… untouched!

And still I stand…
Healing, scarring, loving, weeping, praying… ever forward!… on this
trail of fear… and joy!
Carrying with me the promise of the One whose death will not diminish
but replenish me… there… just down the road… forward!