A BALANCING ACT  

Children on a teeter-totter sensing vulnerability,

Skiers on an icy slope testing their agility,
Performers juggling balls or blocks, a firebaton or knife,
     Each aware of how they dare
     The balancing act of life.

Riders at full gallop in extreme exhilaration,
Accountants, students, shoppers playing numbers allocation,
President, Captain, Secretary, Grandparent, Husband, Wife--
     Each also aware how precarious is
     The balancing act of life.

Upon awakening daily, that balancing act is on.
By the time the picture sharpens, precious moments quickly gone.
Conflicts are immediate: work or play? fight or flee?
     Eat or drink? pain or pleasure?
     Them or us or you or me?

Balancing luxury with necessity, selflessness with greed,
The moment versus the morrow; does one follow, stall or lead?
While the spokes around all provocate with risk of stress and strife,
     Still most do dare, with little care,
     The balancing act of life.

At work, it's competence which must balance politics;
At home, it's about attention paid to spouse and pets and kids;
With relatives, the financial stuff always seems so imminent;
     With friends and most acquaintances,
      It's just about time commitment.

Balancing a canoe or bike, the first steps of a tot,
Give an absolute sense of right or wrong; one either succeeds or not.
Hardly like juggling life's options, without pattern or design,
     While expected to justly allocate
     Priorities and time.

Any expectation of doing so, for better or for worse,
Without 'offending' someone, is ridiculously perverse.
Just as the scales of justice teeter-totter in a breeze,
     Our perspective for decision
     Is a matter of degrees.

Life's no more than a balancing act, with each of us on stage.
No rights or wrongs, ifs, ands or buts;  we react and turn the page.
Visioning a juggler on a high-wire, with the balance he derives,
     May be the clearest picture of
     The balance in our lives.

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