As A Camel

As a camel hoards water in its hump
to stay thirst as it makes dry desert plod
perhaps in dark with stars' consolation,
so we, as we take lumps and bumps of age,

must husband our agency, take delight,
make large joy of what of small we can do,
appreciate each step as if it were leap
that took us past hitherto unknown bound

for each second does come new and each act
is an invention that not just renews
and revalues what went before but shows
on occasion glint of true discovery

the camel's patient but knows how to spit
far enough have I crossed to admire it