In the Balance You do not know if it had been this bad before, but you know that this hell cannot long last. And you cannot manage to think of the future, acknowledge the present - forget the past. So, stuck in a moment, life hangs in the balance; you gather the strength to keep on living. But you now have reached the end of your reserves; at this rate you cannot keep on giving. You reach down deep inside, searching out what you must; hoping ever to find your true purpose. Past the looks and the voice, through your past hopes and dreams; even all this, barely, breaks the surface. "Who are you?" you ask first. "What do you here?" comes next. "Where are you going?" to close; come the questions. "I know not" you reply. "Nothing good" you say next. "Downwards quickly" you close; such reflections. (c) 2002 Robert H. Harrison