By Michael W. Raley

Look at the reflection and what do you see?

A survivor? A warrior? Or perhaps your worst enemy?

The hair has become mostly gray,

An indication I have lived to fight another day.

I see a man who has fought through the regrets of the past,

Determined to improve the part for which he was cast.

I see a man who’s been through hellish days and nights,

Laid low in the valleys and thrust onto the scary heights.

As he has reached this new stage of his life,

He sees the worthlessness of the petty bickering and the strife.

He no longer states the hollow arguments filled with fear and rage,

For he seeks the tranquility of the even-tempered sage.