Poem: Portrait

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I missed out on wealth in my early years
Due to nonchalance and latent fears
Playing catch-up now in my fifties
Avoiding Safeway to shop at Thrifties

Living large and living late
Treating each day as an excuse to celebrate
The winds broke off a few branches but not all
As I kept safe at home, in the library and the mall

This year my boom may come or it might be a trickle
As I surge forward to escape a financial pickle
The nastiest foes are apathy and doubt
So let's grit our teeth and win the next bout

Pull yourself off the mat and avoid a knock-out
Suck in a 2nd wind and let out a shout
Pummeling your opponent blow after blow
Victory is for the dogged who refuse to say no

Winding around the corners, taking in the scenes
Greeting new challengers, both the kind and fiends
Move your chess pawns and beat the machine
Prove to the planet you were born with
A winning gene

Eating healthy, getting slim
Should be a plan not a fleeting whim
Beating our own historic lethargy and pain
Please live up to your heroic name

~ Gunnar Våken

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