And They All Came Tumbling Down. 

You build.
one block
on another.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Making sure
of the balance,
making sure
that each block
is firmly placed
on the block
just beneath.
You build
like a child,
your heart
invested
in each new
layer, each new
beautiful level.
One block.
one more.
You grow
more secure,
more sure
of your skill
as it rises.
Your pride
mounts
with each new inch
built, your own
tower of Bable,
until,
like the original,

it falls down, blocks scattered wildly
whether by malice
or a simple denial of the law of physics,
and you sit
on the floor
among    the                               rubble,
tears blurring    the mess
at your feet.       faced with the hard
decision
to walk away

or begin to
build again.

About this poem. 

Life knocks us down. Sometimes we get up again. Sometimes we don’t. To this day, I don’t know where our resilience ends, or why. I don’t know where it begins, or why. I just know both are real.

It’s scary, not knowing.

Tom