some commit themselves to the discipline
their diligent effort to be applied every day
they think it the most effective strategy
to make life turn out more their way
some do it so well they escape the noise
that serves to distract and dismay
society’s relentless in encouraging them
and ‘rewards’ them with hard-earned pay
some have a sense of what they’re missing
some never even suspect it’s okay
to balance the grind with impulses
and make both a habit each day
they can be crushed upon later reflection
robbed, not knowing what to say
when they get the bill for imbalance
there’s nothing else they can do but pray
they cannot go back and re-live their lives
and choose to go some other way
some have not time to look far forward
hence the pressure to make it today
there is shame in only playing the percentage
and no percentage when you only play
’cause life is ultimately a losing gamble
when you deny where your true interests lay
for the best of what living has to offer
becomes memories that always will stay
found in stolen moments in the shadows
when the gods turn their heads the other way
stephenhsmith
20mar2011
