“Who said life was fair?”

Friday, November 7, 2025--Poetry Day 7

La Isla Saona, Dominican Republic

“Who said life was fair?"

Who said life was fair? All of us
are umpires and referees simultaneously,
sometimes stationed at awkward angles,
not really seeing the play but calling it anyway,

usually ugly, egregiously incorrect,
and often just plain wrong. Life was never meant
to be fair, not with all of ins and outs,
corners and curves, hills and valleys,

abysses and cavernous gorges.
Our only hope, if there is one, is knowing
that we can overcome all things
with persistence and pure work,

struggling, striving, and a bit of thrashing
about along the path of life. Yes, there are bogs
along the way, traps that shut and open at random,
and surprises at every corner along valley floors

thrusting peaks, and dusty trails that turn into trials
when we are not looking and even when
we are expecting them. But we must plow on,
ever onward, up and down the mountainous terrain

and through the valleys of challenges
through the ruinous rivers, swirling
between giant boulders and the ever-twisting logs
and debris of life. The good news is

there are some calm waters ahead, filled
with Caribbean blue and tropical suns
with low-hanging mangos and other delicious fruit.
There will be a final day when we finally row to shore,

touch the white sands, kneel and thank all those
who helped us along the way,
and then enter into an eternal rest away
from the cacophony of life’s ebbs and flows.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming