Footprints

Once upon a time

During one of my numerous trips

Out of the house to one place or another 

I heard the sounds of struggle behind me 

When I turned, I saw my child

Stretching, with Herculean effort 

To step into the footprints 

I had left in a freshly fallen white blanket 

“I’m walking like you, Daddy.”

In one breathtaking moment 

The burden of a legacy fell on me 

Walking in the right places

Or walking in the wrong places

Someone is following my footsteps 

An impressionable learner 

Is giving their best effort 

To copy my deeds as their own 

“I’m walking like you, Daddy.”

My footprints in this snow 

(Like walking through hard times)

Will eventually disappear 

As the difficulties fade in time 

My footprints in the sand 

(Like good days on the beach) 

Are just as temporary 

Washed away by times tide 

The legacy left by them 

Will not disappear as quickly 

As my footprints become his/her footprints 

And their life becomes my continuing legacy 

The continuation of my fathers legacy in me 

As his footsteps became mine 

After his faded or were erased 

By the tides of time and turmoil 

Footprints in a life 

Life is sand, snow, stone and dirt 

Everywhere we go

We leave an imprint behind 

Someone is stretching 

Trying to match our stride 

Trying to fill our steps and prints 

Barely reaching, with just a reason to try 

Everywhere

One more print, one more try, one more goal 

One more reason to step higher, to step farther 

Somewhere out there 

Someone is stretching 

Someone is trying

Footprints

Legacy 

“I’m walking like you, Daddy.”

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

March 21, 2021