Milestones by Susan L.

Set the bar, reach for the top, Be all that you can be! An average life isn't good enough... You've "failed", don't you see? The highest grades, the honour roll, Skipped a grade? Better yet! Oh the shame of a hard won C in math A subject you just couldn't get. Goals are all around us In this world where we abide, Even subtle ones of what beauty should be That tear us up inside. The fancy new car in the driveway, A house that fills the yard, Signs you've finally made it! But, isn't paying for it hard? The poor broken man, the single mom, The addict and the ill, Who find their lives on society's fringe, A swallowed, bitter pill. How come these milestone markers Become millstones round our necks? Especially when we come up short To goals we never set.