As we mature in life we gain a greater sense

Of lightness and humor, as we make amends 

For our accumulation of possessions, lightens

As we go on thru life, the pleasure heightens 



For everything we have, we earned with verve

And this realization then encourages us to serve

Humor and wit, wherever it seems appropriate

Whether face to face, on phone, or on the net



But sometimes our wealth and breadth of fun

Backfires, and then the pain starts in our tums

For one with whom we reached out with fire

Comes back to us with their hurt - shown tired



And tears well up in eyes as their pain stings

For you thought they were doing well in things

In which they were immersed to forget their pain

And then word came they had bounced yet again



At just the same moment you'd changed your path

Leaving the wit alone because it was no longer part

Of the large overall picture you wanted to so present

So you changed - at just the same moment they went



And now the tears well up in eyes brimming over

For your part may have affected their new posture

And instead of giving them something to laugh at

Now they've gone over edge and you're sitting pat



Comfortable in home, surrounded with all you need

As young friends are in so much pain, they bleed

And you have no way at all to reach out to hold them

For you are strapped, by the way you live and wend



Your way through a life full of so much joy and wonder

As others around you speak of the problems they're under

And then you know you would do everything you could

If only they could be fine, and no longer lost, in the woods



- Tristram



Christopher W. Thomas

3:30pm Monday March 16th, 1998