Life 101 (Try Again) Poem by Jim Boone

The only ‘failure' in life
Is the failure to keep trying to
Find meaning and express love.

The trying is what has shaped my
Journey through this lifetime and
My poetry is a chronicle of how
The outcomes of choice bring on
The ‘chance' meetings that give
Soulful texture to my travels as
I walk and navigate my path.

Usually, things will not work out
As we expect them to, and what
Happens instead is what we recall,
In hindsight, as ‘the good stuff'.

I came to Galveston Island, near
Texas, in my seventy second year
Because I had suffered a breakdown
Of the physical / mental exercises
To maintain balance and lost it
In the midst of life-ending desires
And an SOS shout-out to the
Universe for Divine intervention
And I got it, with all the IBC
(Islander by choice) perks waiting
To caress me with the balm of
Amazing friendships and acquaintances
That always greet me with a smile-bringing
"Hello" and make it so easy to let go of
Mainland mayhem and old acquaintances
That never transitioned to anything else,
And habits that served no useful purpose
In the NOW of sagged maturity.

My life-mantra has always been to
Approach everything with unbiased
Openness, and a "to the good of all
Concerned" bottom-line that I accept
And repeat in my writing and my living,
As all that really matters as we navigate
Our own individual paths, and take our
Daily audits of behavior, asking self:
"Did I do my very best today"?
"Can I do better"?

If I awake tomorrow, I will try again.


2013