Poem: August 26, 2021

Pacing Guide

Let’s make an accounting

of what we will let go and

what we will keep. I will keep

the days when one of us

misspeaks and we laugh

because messing up is funny.

And I will let go of feeling

important because I am known

instead of because I am here.

I will keep the lessons 

that feel like conversations,

but not the ones that feel

like the middle of an empty room. 

I will let go of the hoops through

which I am prone to jump.

I will keep an easy stride,

a gentle tone, a slow going.

I will keep my focus on this road.