Fool

My seventh-grade
Marine coach taught
Me gym and algebra and
Told me in reference to one
Of them, “The fool did not know
It could not be done so he went
Ahead and did it.” and it has
Taken me over sixty years
To realize the fool is me.
I am 74 sitting alone
Watching Forrest
Gump as waves
Of emotion
Sweep up
From the
Past
As the
Music of
My youth
Is sweet to
Hear and the
Characters remind
Me of those in my past
Including me and I am shaken
By the power of nostalgia or else
By my own blindness in the past
And present trying to make the
Right decisions unaware of all
The facts and now it is too
Late for regrets but still
Time to try to do what
Seems right to me
Now which I know
I share with my
Friends and
Family who
Have been
So patient
With me
For so
Long
But
I
Still
Ride the
Hard beat
Of old songs
On the long
Way home
To meet a
Friend at
Journeys end.