A first grader, I was to walk home from school.

Mother went over the route with me many times,
and I know the turns, the way to go. I could!

Then, when I walked out of the door
on the opposite end of Roscoe Wilson Elementary

the route didn’t work. After a while I reversed the plan,
went back to the school, and a teacher working late

called Mother and got me home.

My sense of direction has not improved these five decades

but the home I had trouble finding wasn’t a physical one.

I knew the way to weight loss, had studied it, gained knowledge

those five decades. But I was walking out the wrong door…

I was in charge, relying on me. When I finally found

my willpower won’t, I started turning it over in a family of friends

and found my way home to a home I intend to keep for life

no matter what house I live in.