Keep going.

A poem about endurance.

keep going,
day after day, 
keep going

when you get kicked 
in the teeth, 
keep going

when the muse looks 
the other way, 
keep going

when you don't get 
the applause 
you deserve, 
keep going

when the hacks speed by 
in their wax cars 
peddling an easier way, 
keep going
 
when the clowns 
fatten their wallets 
dancing for the algorithm, 
keep going
 
when the critics 
spew venom 
from the safety 
of the stands, 
keep going

when the books 
you write 
go unread, 
keep going
 
when the albums 
you cut 
fall on deaf ears, 
keep going
 
when life 
takes you out 
at the knees, 
keep going
 
when depression 
descends 
like lucifer, 
keep going
 
when misfortune 
strikes 
like a knife 
in the dark, 
keep going
 
when you rub 
your fingers raw 
searching for a light 
on the wall, 
keep going
 
remember 
you are a flame
 
remember 
you are a bolt 
of lightning

remember 
you are a jar 
full of fireflies 
dancing atop 
a tree stump

keep going
 
when you find grays 
in your beard 
let it remind you 
of wolves, 
keep going
 
when the sins 
and shortcomings 
of your past 
haunt you 
like nosferatu, 
fetch an iron stake and 
keep going

when the worries 
of your future 
envelop you 
like a parade of fog
marching at dawn, 
go slowly but 
keep going
 
when the possibility 
of quitting 
is as tempting 
as a pair of breasts 
pressed against 
your office window, 
recall those words 
by joan didion:
 
you have to 
pick the places 
you don't walk 
away from
 
keep going
 
when you have gone 
as far as you can go 
and you fear you can go 
no further, 
recite those lines 
by robert frost:

the woods are lovely, 
dark and deep, 
but i have promises 
to keep, 
and miles to go 
before i sleep, 
and miles to go 
before i sleep
 
keep going
 
if not 

for any 
other reason 
than to have 
the privilege 
to say 
at the foot 
of your grave 
that all your life 
you never let up, 

keep going,
keep going,
goddamnit,
 
keep going.

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P.S. If you’d like to listen to the spoken word version of this poem, you can do so here.

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