You can do it!

Day 17: "write a poem in which you respond to a favorite poem by another poet."

The difficult part is choosing which of my favourites to respond to! In the end I settled on a poem I enjoyed yesterday:  Elizabeth Boquet's The Blues, which in turn is after Wendy Cope's Some More Light Verse", both excellent poems. My poem is more by way of self encouragement than a reflection of achievement.  


You can do it!

You have to try. You have to walk.
You put it off. It's only talk.
You say you will. You know you won't.
You pretend you want to, but you don't.
You sit for hours. You get quite stiff.
You sigh and dream. You live in 'if'.
You have to move. No pain no gain.
But standing hurts. You sit again.
You know there's nothing left to do,
But grit your teeth and push on through.

You try one day. You walk for ten.
The next day twelve. You try again.
You try so hard. You don't give up.
You reach twenty, and speed up.
You still hurt. You still get stiff.
But you have a goal, a faint belief.
You start to dream. You see the end.
When limbs are supple, limbs can bend.
You know there's nothing left to do
But grit your teeth. You will get through.

© Copyright 2026. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved

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