Every step forward
is a step away from the beginning,
a step closer to the end;
each one a loss as well as a gain.
Every step forward
contains within it a grieving
for what we leave behind,
can never have again,
can never be
again.
And I am too old
to believe it can all be done over,
too old to believe
in my own immortality,
watching the dust collect around me.
But I am just old enough to be grateful
that I have walked such a journey
with such friends,
that I have lived in such times,
that I have been given such a life,
and that I am still walking,
that the journey isn’t over,
that I can still
leave footprints in my own dust.
Wendy Stefansson
