Yard by yard,
it might be hard,
but
inch by inch,
it’s a cinch.
Norman Lear, television writer and producer . . .
My grandfather told
me when I was about
ten, as we stood at
the edge of a lake
in
that each time I threw
a stone into the water
I was raising the level
of the lake.
I threw another stone.
It wasn’t happening.
So I threw a rock.
I still couldn’t see the
level of the lake rising,
but my grandfather
asked me if I saw the
ripple.
Years later I understood
what he was getting at.
The ripple is what we all
have to be satisfied with.
That’s what we all have
to work our hearts out for –
to make a ripple.
Then we won’t see it
but the water level
does rise.
