Onward

by Richard Hartwell

Every evening we are poorer by a day,
but richer by a memory;
every dawn we are poorer by a dream,
but richer by an opportunity.

It is this forward shift, this change,
this inevitable variability,
that is mankind’s lodestone;
for, without change,
or the expectation of change,
or the vision of change –
without this or these,
what is life worth?

Unrest is the mark of existence;
variation is vitality
not fulfillment or satiation.

Mankind needs need and
pursuit of the far country;
arrival is not a goal, only
passage is of genuine worth,
its challenges fulfill mankind.

Forward motion is all, whether physical
or intellectual or emotional.
Mankind is made for movement,
not entropy and stagnation.