A modest little note, it was,
on the side of the box at the foot of the tree.
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!
But it stopped me short that Christmas morn,
with a warning that carried a good deal
further than I might, just then,
be ready to see,
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!
For living through these latter years,
that same precautionary note prevails,
looming across so much of what I want,
and wish, and even try to do, and be.
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!
The desire is as it ever was,
the stubborn will also abides,
but those batteries… the push, the power,
the basic raw ability to make it so, to pull it off,
complete, or even just commence
the task at hand, has more and more
been welcomed by thin air.
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!
Must I, then, remain here powerless,
resigned to feebly seeking help,
demoralized by regular frustration?
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!
Or might there be, as yet unseen,
fresh tasks ahead requiring less of limb
and shoulder, more of heart and mind,
and even soul?
