It’s not in the falling that mettle is made;

stumbling is common, the price to be paid

for walking this earth, where the footing’s unsure –

tectonics keep shifting (and there is no cure!)

It’s found in the rising, the clutching at straws,

the reaching for freedom when clamped in life’s jaws,

the struggle to stand upon feet that are sore,

ascension dimension when strength is no more.