Hold Fast My Path Poem by James Walter Orr

I wander through life,
And I learn from my strife,
How precious the memories are.
The battles, though rife,
Must still bow to the knife,
Like waves, as they break on the bar.

They run through my hands,
And they spill on the sands,
With each time I circle the sun.
Though twisted the strands,
I must take all my stands,
For new threads shall always be spun.

A lesson I learn
From each scar and each burn,
May still fade with each flowing year.
The wisdom I earn,
Pays the highest return;
I buy it with blood, sweat, and tear.

My visions, defined
As I started life's grind,
Are deemed now, too young for my age.
By fate, re-assigned
To the back of my mind:
A new map is drawn for life's page.

Accept I repose,
And allow my sweet rose,
Be stripped from accomplishments vine?
My valor transpose
To conform to my foe's:
Of me remains nothing that's mine.

My goals I must reach
Ere the heavens impeach,
And ever remove from my grasp.
I direct my speech
To the gods I beseech,
To bring my goals into my clasp.