In a small town in Tennessee,

A young man sat in subtlety.

Far from the reaches of the Carter four,

Life was somewhat of a bore.

Not that this town had nothing to offer,

but it took its stuff from a different coffer.

One of dirt roads, green pastures, and confederate halls,

While he hailed from cul-de-sacs and runaway balls.

Innocence is a thing of magic.

If you see, it is quite tragic.

Please bear with me, for a time,

It’s hard to make some of this rhyme.

Now where were we?  Oh yeah, I remember.

It all started sometime last September.

It was the race season, back then,

And we all thought we were going to win.

We spent months in preparation

To make ripples across the nation.

In the end,

We didn’t win.

A sobering experience, let’s be sure,

But to be sad?  What for?

We tried our best and fought our fight

With much jest and even greater might!

There was no reason to despair, at least not much.

We did our best and such and such.

For many of our elite squad,

This was their lat time around the quad.

It is an experience filled with sorrow, hope, and happiness

As you look to the past, present, and future to deal with life’s crappiness.

The prospect of making new friends, and keeping the old,

Holds many surprises in the fold.

Anyway, as I was saying before the detour,

Some of us didn’t go home ’til a quarter to four.

We got together for one last cheer,

A time to laugh and play and even shed a tear.

And that’s how it all started,

At a gathering with our dearly departed.

I had known for a long time that this life was a work in progress

And to meet some goals, I had set a few plans in motion, kinda like Congress.

Many late-nights were spent in counsel, seeking the advice

Of rappers and turtles and dice,

For this motley assortment had

the same chance of being right, bad.

Yet, despite all adversity,

We came to a conclusion with some diversity.

It’s a party, you see, the perfect solution.

A gleeful gathering of people with little pollution.

And so it was that we ended these meetings,

Leaving nothing more than simple, cheerful fleetings.

Some time passed on the grind.

Some of it must have slipped my mind.

Monotony is an odd thing,

Complex, if you will, or something to that ring.

Too little or too much and you’re left in the dust,

But get just enough and creativity is a must.

But that’s for another time

And, right now, I’m running out of mine.

So let’s hurry up and finish this fable,

Else I lose my spot at the lunch table.

There was this kid, a man of T,

Who came one day and contacted me.

A former member of the squad.

A stand-up guy, in a pod.

Thus began a fruitful friendship,

Soon blossoming and doubling our membership.

In the spring, we made our stake.

A bounty, of sorts, for none to take.

It was a team like no other,

Spartans if compared to another.

Into the long days of summer we went,

Country ballads were how the hours were spent.

One day, it was time to depart,

Not for good, but for great.

And thus began the changing tides,

From Summer to fall, it was in the ides.

None could stop it, and none should try,

For to put faith in the cause was but a lie.

As a lone wolf through the forest,

The season was but a test.

Confidence and such and such

And persistence and fuss and dutch.

Reverted to my old ways was I

As the last stage of the Saga, Full Circle. *sigh*

Perhaps our textbook was right,

It takes balance o shed some light.

Not Socrates, nor Locke, alone

Could reveal with their tone,

For it was never nature or nurture,

But a mix of innate and culture.

It is thus that I’ve learned through many trials and tribulations

That none can live without figments of their imaginations.

Errare est humanum

And life is a conundrum,

So all you have to do, all you can do, is to take what you have

And do the best you can with the cards you are dealt.  Crave

little, and laugh a lot.

That’ll get you through a spot.

At long last, we’re back to where I started,

Stuck in Tennessee, missing the departed.

But all is not lost,

For little is tossed.

Something will be here tomorrow,

Whether it be me or you that follow.

I missed a bunch, but it’s time for lunch.

I hope this wasn’t too much of a bore.

I tried to add some of my favorite lore.

I’d like you to keep the following words in mind,

If you’d be so kind:

Smile because, in the end, it’s the only thing that matters.