Life can make a fool of us all.

Life can make a fool of us all.

Even those who believe

They have all the answers.

It is nothing but a party

And holds no fear

As youthful zeal

Seals the victory,

With an easy confidence

That carries the day,

And sweeps all before it.

Surprise is an opportunity

In clever disguise.

A setback dismissed as part of

A learning curve.

Stumbling blocks are removed

As success becomes an outcome,

An expectation,

A natural conclusion,

The world but a gift,

Waiting to be opened.

An oyster,

With a pearl as the prize

And no strings attached.

What a world that would make,

All give and no take.

You eat your cake

Over and over again.

But with every action

There is in turn

An equal and opposite

Re-action

For everything known

There will always be

An unknown

It will be ever present,

An un-invited guest,

The stranger at a table,

The danger in the dark.

The question you left hanging

As not worthy of your time,

And it still waits

To claim its moment

The very first in line.

And it will be a shock,

When it happens,

As one day it surely must.

That first hard knock.

A truth, your good fortune did not tell

And never really looked for.

A frightening concept,

Until you realise,

There is so much more to know

And that is no bad thing.

The world can be a cruel place,

It is unforgiving.

And misfortune can prevail.

Life is not a fairy tale,

It is a pond full of big fish

Bigger than those we fry.

And we may never know its secrets,

But we may find

A pearl of wisdom

To believe in

If we really try.