Sometimes I am less

Sometimes I am less

Sometimes more

It is hard to keep track

When the rains fall

The trail is overgrown

The wind blows

With little regulation

Without guidance

I am a footprint

I go before and after

I am an ocean

Seething with anger

Calm as a mill pond

Lost in the doldrums

A wil-o-the-wisp

Barely heard

Dull as ditchwater

Sharp as a knife

Cut from the cloth

Of my father

I sing for my supper

Starved of affection

A poor man

A guttersnipe

A nose pressed against the glass

An outcast

A motherless child

A captain of a ship

Forging ahead

Falling behind

I am a fox in the box

A descendant of heroes

Who were as fallible

As me

I am restless

A wrecker

A broken promise

A dream maker

A helpmate

A writer of songs

A bird in the hand

A poet of sorts

Ill-suited to life

With nothing to show

For my years

On this earth

But it is all that I am

All I am worth

Sometimes less

Sometimes more.