{"sf1_id":810422,"sf2_id":"Oe5yGA8e","title":"Countdown to a New Chapter","author":"Riverweasel","words":449,"posted_at":"2015-01-22T17:04:00.000Z","tags":["Future","Poem"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/810422-countdown-to-a-new-chapter","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Oe5yGA8e","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/2c/aa/2caad247-4038-4bb3-9950-a0a1b5564e75","description":"#15 of Poems\n\nWith less than six months to go before I end my contract with the Army, I reflect on how my future decisions will shape where I go.","content":"So many pages turned, so many more left untouched\n\nThe epic storylines of our lives, moments hurried, moments rushed\n\nTimes where we knew not when or why we followed a trail\n\nWhat we might accomplish, how it would weigh on the scale\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSome of us chose new directions, broke from the norm\n\nWhile others stayed in comfort, embracing the warm\n\nThose that fought for their country, their rights, their beliefs\n\nOthers who supported their friends and provided relief\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWe all have our books, the novels ever being written\n\nOf our lives and even of the lovers to which we were smitten\n\nThough some chose to live alone, it did not diminish\n\nThe critical potential for importance of the impact of its finish\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nYet this is not about them, but rather, the closing of a chapter\n\nWhere one journey of our life ends, we pursue the ever after\n\nTime to take a pause and admire the stark reality of the moment\n\nWhen a diverging fork in the road provides us a golden token\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe coin will permit us one shot at making a decision\n\nSo we look at our targets, choose one and aim with precision\n\nNot knowing what the future holds, we fire with tenacity\n\nAnd, for my future, I will fire the entire magazine's capacity\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nFor my time in this Army is coming to a close, a defining end\n\nWhere the last signature on my paperwork will certainly send\n\nMy future on a new route, one involving college and new friends\n\nOne where I explore the mysteries of life, as well as who I really am\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nBecause just as much as we write our books with the choices we make\n\nWe never know the true ending our course in life will take\n\nAnd so, we put each word down and stomp the end of a day\n\nWith a period or exclamation mark, maybe even a question\n\nA recollection of our perception of the conception of today\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nRemember that while one chapter ends, another is waiting in its stead\n\nThat finishing one portion of your life is just the beginning of more\n\nThis pattern of life continues forever until each individual is dead\n\nSo take every breath with a purpose, every step with meaning\n\nEach decision in life, make it mean something, for every second is fleeting\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nYour story in this book could end without even the slightest of warning\n\nSo when you sleep and again rise, take joy in the morning\n\nFor again, you have the opportunity to impact the world with your story\n\nSo stand tall like a soldier, fight on, drive on, and conquer your life with glory.  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Poems","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/555125-ignorance.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/845351-that-which-remains.json"}}