<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""> Poem On Just Being Yourself<br class=""><br class=""><div class=""><p class="ydp4981673dMsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20.700000762939453px; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class="">not the one with a capital S,<br class="">just the jerry-rigged cluster of habits<br class="">enshrined with a beating heart<br class="">and living spirit, that meets<br class="">the new day every day,<br class=""><br class="">the one who stands in lines,<br class="">who runs in races as we all must<br class="">without, hopefully, turning<br class="">everything into a race.<br class=""><br class="">I’m speaking here of the arc<br class="">of a lifetime, a long arc<br class="">that requires great endurance—<br class="">no matter who we are.<br class=""><br class="">When I was younger, I went<br class="">to the BART station one day<br class="">and gave out Hero buttons<br class="">to everyone I could.<br class=""><br class="">It’s easy to forget, when you’re struggling,<br class="">that it’s a great thing just to keep struggling.<br class=""><br class="">I’ve felt way ahead of the pack,<br class=""></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class="">led to a mountain-top,</span><span style="font-size: 6pt; line-height: 9.199999809265137px; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class=""></span></p><p class="ydp4981673dMsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class="">handed tablets of beauty.</span><span style="font-size: 6pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class=""><br class=""></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class="">I now realize were a gift<br class="">I cannot sustain on my own.<br class=""><br class="">Putting one foot ahead of the other,<br class="">longing to do great things,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class=""><br class="">making the best effort<br class=""></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">even when feeling ham-handed</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 34, 40);" class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">may engender more divine smiles<br class="">than being tapped on the shoulder<br class="">and led to that mountain-top.<br class=""><br class="">Persevering, who knows,<br class="">may be the finest<br class="">Art of all.</span></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Max Reif</div></div></div></body></html>