A man in his life
plays many roles.
Here are the roles
I’ve played in my life.
I was Hopalong Cassidy
and Roy Rogers
a baseball and
football player
a swimmer
water polo player
student government leader
and yell leader
actor
and missionary
husband
and father
religion teacher
management consultant
religious leader
and business owner
grandfather
writer
essayist
and advisor
In my life
I played these roles
It’s a short life
to play all these roles
but
there’s something about life
that transcends these roles
There’s a cracking open
permitting the man to go
Inside himself
There’s more than a role
that goes on inside himself
There’s love
and lust
tears
and fears
pain
adjustment
discipline
and courage
patience
and acceptance
inside of there
There’s an emerging authentic self
inside yourself
It’s where
the music
and math
and poetry
and science
and enduring love
and loyalty
and sympathy
and empathy
and joy
and justice
and mercy
reside
In there I’ve found a happy space
for myself
inside myself
I hear the cries of pain from all the children everywhere in there
I care for each one of them in there
I hear the echoes of the universe in there