The Quest Frank Kovarik
24 When you wake up in the morning With a vague suspicion forming In your mind that something’s missing, Well, then you’d do well to listen To that voice that keeps repeating Expectations you’re not meeting— All the promises you’ve broken— And it’s good that you’ve awoken To the fact that there’s an absence, Something that you haven’t had since Back before you turned that corner, When the latter was the former. And now you know you need it. You can find a book and read it. You can track it down and shoot it, Or just go out and recruit it. It might hurt to realize You’re not at your best, But that doesn’t mean You should give up the quest. It’s that feeling that you carry That sustains you when it’s scary. It’s that confident expression In the face of your depression. It’s that extra bit of effort That can get you through the desert. It’s that attitude of good will When you feel so mad you could kill. It’s that truth that you aren’t seeing Though it’s written there in neon.
It’s the last-minute connection And the crucial course correction. Now you know you’ve got to have it, You hop to it like a rabbit, Circle round it like a hawk, Or put on your shoes and walk. It might hurt to realize You have failed a test, But that doesn’t mean You should give up the quest. Though you’ve had this revelation And you feel the motivation To change every last bad habit And to live life like an abbot, As the days pass by like train cars, You might feel pain in the old scars. You might find yourself backsliding, Your get-up-and-go subsiding. So just know the day might come When you feel you’re just a bum, And that thing you thought you had Smells like milk that has turned bad. But just keep on looking for it ’Cause you know you can’t ignore it. Don’t pretend that you don’t mind it. You never know where you will find it. It might hurt to realize You’re like all the rest, But that doesn’t mean you should give up the quest.
