The Passion of Youth

I remember the struggle
Stumbling forward, learning the steps
Momentum threatening a fall
But I embraced the trouble
Learning with no nets,
And inherent risk in all.

I sensed the imperative
Coded in the marrow of deep bone
Living unrehearsed
In a wild, meterless narrative
A billion and alone
Tasked to contribute a verse

While the heartbeats counted down
And the drums pounded time
To the metronome of breath
My temporal feet bare on ancient ground
Fumbling the rhymes
To say what I could before death

And the grave rang like an alarm.