Photo by Kathleen Murphy

There comes a time, each man alone

Must heedless carry on

Through the night, rain-swept, wind-blown

Must persevere, ‘til dawn

No matter what the forces he chances to meet

Nor the vagabonds he meets along the way

No matter all the tricksters, with words so smooth and sweet

Should he pay attention, and be swept away

But carry on he must, his duty calls to him

He, the unlikeliest of all to be chosen

New responsibility, tear him limb by limb

Persisting through a storm, his extremities a-frozen

He did not ask to be the one, to bear this newfound weight

To battle temptation with each and every stand

And yet this day would have come, as it is his fate

His moment of glory, should it be so grand

As dawn arrives, he peeks up at the yawning sun

Rays rise up through clouds, full of newborn hope

Newborn obligations for the day, just begun

But his dreams are tethered down, unable to elope

His call to service remains as such, in lieu of all his fears

And the weight he holds, like Atlas he shall stay

The world requires him to be strong and persevere

After all the dawn is just another day