I walked
through the park
alone and dreaming,
as a black cloud
billowed behind,
tumultuous
and seething.
Like a banner,
it streamed,
proclaiming
its screed,
“Behold!”
Against me,
a dark litany.
Walkers steered clear,
perhaps sensing the war
between now and then,
but sunlight peeked
through mossy trees…
the answer was clear.
Health comes first,
before expectation.
Life comes first,
and with it,
newly dedicated,
a release
of long-stored
trepidation.
“Am I good enough
to do this thing?”
It’s the wrong question.
Realigned. Re-stated,
“Is this thing
right for me?”
I walk through the trees
and I see a new yellow
in the light.
©️ Tenpenny, 2026.
It’s so hard to learn something amazing is out of reach, but it’s also an inflection toward finding a new way forward. I can accept the impossible. It’s not the same as failure.