Go On

All your days you pan for gold,
Sifting the dark sediment
For a fortunate glitter.

This is a figure of speech,
Of course. You’re not all miners.
But panning for gold figures

Pretty well for your approach
To patterns of likelihood.
You’re smart enough. You don’t dream

Of a stream sedimented
All gold. You sift through your lives
Expecting mostly gravel,

But you’re fixated on hopes
That you know are unlikely.
The rare outcome shines in mind.

You keep going, fixated
On what you know’s unlikely.
You know. You know. On you go.