Together Growing Bold And Old

I list it all quite readily,
And when I’m done it’s plain to see
The aspects which add up to “Stu”,
That they fall short – as aspects do.

The question which remains for me
Is, “Who is Stu? – Just who is he?”
Not parts in columns on the page,
But who’s that person folks engage?

Who is the “I” who talks so much?
Who is the person folks can touch?
One time I quite dependent was;
I know I’ve changed – in part, the cause.

I grew to independent thought
And action – tried the wings I got;
Tried flying independently;
I hit some walls – discovered “me”.

And then I fell in love some times;
I settled down to life sublime,
As inter-type-dependence rose –
A different kind of walk, we know.

“For two become one flesh,” Christ said,
And so we do (till one is dead),
Which changes us in deepest way,
Who we once were morphed to today.

Some seasons we each go our ways –
Together, climbing-rope parlays
Out as one anchors for the climb,
More venturesome with climbing-line.

At times we anchor, dig in tight,
While climbing-partner gropes the night;
At other times we’re hand in hand
In meadow flats and forest stands.

Who am I? You will never know
If I am all of me that shows;
For I’m one-half of climbing team,
This coil of rope since wedding’s been –

An institution in my life.
Agreement? Not to cut with knife
When one or both hangs from the rope,
As we traverse our mountain slope.

We have our ways of doing ice;
Transversing cliffs; such ways suffice
Until some change assails our ways –
Agreements shift from former days.

That’s when we choose to start again;
Two with a length of rope remain
(Ten marriages in forty years);
New way of climbing then appears.

We laugh and celebrate our pasts;
No marriage to forever lasts;
But climbing-rope enables risk;
We’ve risen high because of this.

When kids arrived we roped them in;
We anchored fast so they could win
Initial triumphs in the rocks,
And choose which mountain paths to walk.

And when at last they went their ways,
Our marriage changed – grandparent-days
Emerged, with other coils of rope
Played out for us up on that slope.

Our parents’ ropes are reeling in;
New life beyond will soon begin
For those who anchored for our start,
As we in turn fulfilled our part.

So who am I? Look close, you’ll see
I’m part of this community
Of life, up close I have some kin
Who anchored tight, let me begin;

And others – friends and colleague-types
Who climbed with me – kept me in sight;
Together we’ve attained this height,
And will some more before it’s night.

So if you find it hard to know
Exactly who I am, I’ll show
You where to look – at end of lines
To other climbers – there you’ll find –

Our organismic entity –
That missing part you sense in me;
At times you cannot see my wife –
For both, our rope enables life –

So, check our rope – right to its end;
You’ll find her there – sometimes she spends
A while locked down and holding on;
At other times ahead she’s gone –

To try some new adventured way
To do this stretch we’ve found today;
No matter, we take turns and hold
On tight – both growing old and bold.

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