I stride along the path,
The path I know is true,
And my gaze remains fixed,
On what is ahead.
Every once in a while,
Some item breaks my pace,
A pebble,
A rock,
A tree branch, perhaps,
But if I stumble,
Even trip,
I get myself back up,
Shake off the fall,
Brush off the dust,
And continue moving,
On this wonderful road to life.
Through all of my struggles,
I am all right,
For I receive help,
From the finest place.
My fellow travelers,
They are here, too,
And a wave and a smile,
Plus countless kind words,
We exchange as we journey,
Remaining in the right.

Suddenly, out of nowhere,
A boulder springs forth,
And I much more than stumble--
I plummet to the ground!
Face first, I fall,
'Til finally, I cease moving,
But such a pain do I feel,
In my left side,
So I look, and there resides,
A limb,
A large limb,
From a nearby tree,
And as I attempt to uncover how it possibly arrived,
My loving companions that fill this narrow road,
Help me up 'soon as they realize I have fallen,
With smiling faces,
Assuring me that this is for what they are here.
I smile back and thank them,
And I'm not worthy.

And one, reaching out, softly informs me,
"This tree limb, my dear, is sticking out of your side,
And I can tell it is hurting you,
So it I will remove;
'Twill take but a few tugs."
But I know, oh, I see she is not strong enough,
And yet, she cannot handle the task,
For she has attempted with such eagerness,
To remove thorns and such tribulations,
From my body previously,
But I can always tell,
It is too much for her,
And I don't want to cause her any pain;
Why should she be crippled, too?
My dear friend, to whom I could wish no harm,
And I know she does not understand.
"Thank you, but I can handle it,"
I tell her false-confidently,
Truly hoping (correctly) I will receive aid,
From the best Source,
So I stand up and walk straight,
"See?" I say.
"Are you sure? Are you positive?"
She does question,
But I convince her, mostly convinced myself,
That I will be all right.

And after she is past me, I begin to limp,
For the pain--how it sears!
And my side--how it bleeds!
How it bleeds?
Oh, dear!
So I bandage it up.
I reflect on how many seem to be like her,
My friend, phenomenal
But not strong enough,
Or else they are too strong,
And will tear my flesh, see?
But only for an instant do I dwell upon this,
For my ache, it will go away,
I know,
In its due time;
I simply must endure the agony,
But only for a time.
Maybe if it I disregard,
It will disappear.

Later, after I have limped awhile,
So accustomed I am unaware,
Another one, he comes along.
"I heard about your fall," he declares to me,
"Would you like some help?"
And even as he is speaking,
I feel my right side aching,
For I had been leaning farther and farther to that side,
Without my even knowing!
He sees, and presently, I pull myself up;
I know he is strong enough,
For he is so strong,
But would not tear my being, e'en my soul,
But I am afraid.
He could do it; as to that, I have no doubt,
But he could still be affected,
And it could be a load, for I would be required,
To lean on him a bit,
But I cannot lean too far--
I'd not want that! Oh, no--
And so I debate,
But dismiss him as well,
For I tell him it hurts, but I will be fine.
Can I make it on my own?
Well, him I shan't trouble,
So at least I will try.

He takes a few steps, turns back, and ensures,
Then keeps walking, but alas!
I am moving toward the ground;
Bending lower and lower,
This is not getting better,
Well, perhaps the slightest bit.
So many pass me with looks of concern,
But I smile and wave, still advancing forward,
Though also toward the floor.
Why can I not erase the notion,
That they would mind,
Pulling this ailment out? Oh, come on, girl!
Should I call him back?
What of any of these?
Those who are stronger,
I could advise them to pull gently;
They would do so with love and tenderness.
How can I not trust that--
Trust them--that they would?
I do not need a perfect match,
Simply a helping hand!
Even for a weaker one, a small tug would aid somewhat,
To get to the thinner portion of the limb,
But I do not wish to impose.

I am still walking straight,
Just hunched over,
But what is this?
Everyone is hunched over,
Some scarcely,
Others quite a bit;
Oh, we all have problems,
And how did I not discern that?
So thankful, now I am aware,
Though we are so close to the light,
The path is narrowing even more,
But we can raise each other up,
Help each other through.
Suddenly, I realize the limb is not in my left side,
And a waving traveler has it; they toss it aside.
I thank them and pull out the branch
They have in their arm,
Another a twig from his leg,
Yet another a tree from her back.
I cannot dislodge the entire tree,
But I can sever some limbs.
My side still burns,
But it is OK;
Now I know helping others,
I must allow them to assist me as well.
So I'll not hold back,
In generosity,
Unselfishness,
As I feel there I have improved,
But too, I will permit my friends,
To lift me up, additionally,
Carefully testing that I give them myself,
Though never more than they can bear.
I raise my gaze where it has been all along,
Only missing my mind,
And I cry out with joy to my greatest Strengthener,
For though the sky above now is cloudy,
I can see the end, so near,
That this will not go on much longer,
That together, we are almost there.