<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Better Than Expected<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Things were not as bad as I had thought.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">The scrape in the fender of the rented car <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">could be hidden with a little white paint <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">before I returned it to the agency.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">This CD of new age music, which I just liked it first,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">with its that synthetic wind of pulsing jellyfish, <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">does a remarkable job of slowing down my heart.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Merely to have survived to this point <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">is already the most unlikely triumph; <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">to still be breathing and trying to improve.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Things are definitely better than expected.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">I'm not on trial for anything.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">I have given up on the idea of great success.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">The oncologist says the X Ray shows no “abnormalities.”<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">We are always trying to come to a decision,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">always in a place where we are making up our minds <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">whether this soup is good, the flowers pretty,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">whether we are fortunate, or poor.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">All my life I have been <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> loved by women,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> held up by water,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> ignored by war.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">I have outlasted the voluntary numbness <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">I required to remain alive.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">Why shouldn't I be able,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">why shouldn't I be able <i class="">now</i><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">to walk down the street,<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">under the overhanging trees, <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">and raise my arms and say <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">that the ring shaking down from the leaves <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class="">is not an inconvenience but it's joy? <o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""> - Tony Hoagland</div></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>(<b style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">November 19, 1953 -</b><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> </span><b style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">October 23, 2018</b><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">)</span></div></body></html>