Can We Know?

by Cheryl Merrick

Can we know triumph

     without first experiencing struggle? 

Accomplishment without expending effort?

Self-confidence without facing challenges?

Courage without standing up to our fears?

Faith without exercising hope?

Love without feeling sorrow?

or Compassion without enduring suffering?

Could we be truly good 

      without refusing the bad?

Have moral strength 

     without developing discipline?

Integrity without living moral principles?

Honor without showing valour?

or Strong character without 

     being tempered by hardships?

Turning 70

by Cheryl Merrick

Seventy seemed sooo old

when I was a child.

Now, it seems sooo long ago

when I naively determined 

that I would never "let"

myself become old.

Youth and middle age have long passed

til here I am a "senior" complete with 

crinkled skin and frail health,

but also with a more loving heart 

softened by the things I have suffered.

Slowly over the years, 

the abrasion caused by 

each sorrow and challenge

has worked to polish my soul.