Realizations of a Boy

I think it is healthy to be realistic.

Expect the Unexpected.

Set attainable goals.

Expect everything from yourself,

and nothing of others.

Death is apart of life.

A seventeen year old sees death,

in a most horrific and tragic way.

He continues his life,

contemplating life and legacy.

He recognizes the importance of a family to fall back on,

and contributes to the undying blessing of family support.

Now he matures at much faster pace.

He sees life in a more realistic lens,

and tries to contribute to the legacy.

He treats life like a petal of a rose;

delicate and beautiful.

He believes he is now more prepared,

and all while he progresses,

understands that life can change in an instant.

Death is inevitable.

All the while this boy is looking for purpose.

He recognizes the time for change.

He must become a man now,

and a man is confident,

full of determination.

It is time for him to continue this legacy,

left by two legendary grandfathers.

He begins to analyze his strengths,

and contemplate his weaknesses.

He recognizes he has much of both.

His dreams are sky high,

requiring careful consideration and planning.

He knows his manhood rests on what he can create,

both tangible and intangible.

All eyes are on him,

all while his own;

set on a life well-lived,

and the clock has started.

He strives to be a man;

versatile and happy;

carefully considering each path.

He develops a timeline and methodology.

Beginning with college,

a year away and awaiting decisions.

He is determined to be debt-free,

contrary to the plague of his generation.

He will sacrifice his early 20s,

giving his time and freedom to the military.

He is determined to follow through,

and in return will reach his first goal.

He will continue on this path,

flight-proven and realistic.

Sacrifice for the betterment of himself and society.

He realizes he must expect everything from himself;

hard work and sacrifice,

Sleepless nights and an undying hunger;

an endless strive for betterment.

His life is no one's but his own;

the master of his own destiny.

A dense and dark forest awaits,

that he alone must construct in it a well built path.

No one believes he will do it,

focused on their battles,

eager to see him fail.

Expect nothing from others.

All eyes set on him,

yet he is completely alone,

standing at the bottom,

of the tallest mountain in our universe.

Once before he acted naive,

entrusting fully his heart to a girl,

Only to lose two months of sanity,

Killing a maturing confidence and sense of pride.

He expected an unreachable standard.

Stuck in a dream-like state,

He is unable to wake up.

Injecting a self-help shot of adrenaline,

He wakes and continues his work,

Attempting to fill a deep void left in his heart.

“Lesson learned”, he says, “Move on”.

Him against time,

he decides to turn to no one but himself.

He is the protagonist of his own story.

He struggles and fails.

He is flawed and mislead,

yet he has something to prove.

He is human,

and intends to live to that full definition.

Progress is his vision,

and his core values his hands.

He puts down his pencil,

prepares for the day.

He heads to the door.

On the door a warning sign reads,

“No returning beyond this point”.

He is that delicate rose petal,

In an unforgiving environ.

He stands out in a sea of grass

holding onto the stem with unwavering strength.

He enters a room,

littered with the plagued and infected.

Despite his fear, he walks among them;

Confident and strong.

He has reached the forest,

towering high above him.

Mangled branches and thorns menace his success,

and he will build that path despite.

He stands on a distant planet deep in our vast universe,

gazing at a mountain twenty times the height of Everest,

with a peak reaching beyond orbit.

He begins the climb.

He emerges from a love-induced coma,

This time knowing who he is,

And his purpose on Earth.

An endless gaze reaches the stars,

with the corners of his mouth raising.

A grin that produces the slight wrinkles of time.

He is unstoppable, and the journey has just begun.