Determination

            Neil Harding McAlister

When winter’s raging blizzards howl outside,               

In vain we wish the season’s course were run.

We must endure ‘til time can turn the tide,                         

And once again we feel the warming sun.

When icy mountain paths we’re forced to climb,

Adversity’s the only guide we’ve got.

We pay for his advice with pain and time,

So learn by heart hard lessons, dearly bought,

And use them to face down life’s many woes.                        

Fight hard to make this world your dreams fulfill.

As springtime sun shall melt the winter snows,

We bend the stubborn future to our will.

© 2008, NHM

Art by Ilene Black