What is not easy
Comes with pain.

I am a cynic
In my forty-sixth year.

I measure potential loss and gain
Before I move.
I want something
For me.
I'm done with noble sacrifice.
Done with the ceremony of
By-all-means-you-go-first.

So:
What must I give up
Before I
Take this chance?

What sacrifice
Might keep me
In the noble game?

I give a little,
And I wait.

Hating the loneliness,
I am in.

In my forty-sixth year
I have not learned
Nothing is better
Than something.

One Single Impression