Keep going.

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keep going,
day after day,
keep going
when you get kicked
in the teeth,
keep going
when the muse looks
the other way,
keep going
when you don't get
the applause
you deserve,
keep going
when the hacks speed by
in their wax cars
peddling an easier way,
keep going
when the clowns
fatten their wallets
dancing for the algorithm,
keep going
when the critics
spew venom
from the safety
of the stands,
keep going
when the books
you write
go unread,
keep going
when the albums
you cut
fall on deaf ears,
keep going
when life
takes you out
at the knees,
keep going
when depression
descends
like lucifer,
keep going
when misfortune
strikes
like a knife
in the dark,
keep going
when you rub
your fingers raw
searching for a light
on the wall,
keep going
remember
you are a flame
remember 
you are a bolt
of lightning
remember 
you are a jar
full of fireflies
dancing atop
a tree stump
keep going
when you find grays
in your beard
let it remind you
of wolves,
keep going
when the sins
and shortcomings
of your past
haunt you
like nosferatu,
fetch an iron stake and
keep going
when the worries
of your future
envelop you
like a parade of fog
marching at dawn,
go slowly but
keep going
when the possibility
of quitting
is as tempting
as a pair of breasts
pressed against
your office window,
recall those words
by joan didion:
you have to
pick the places
you don't walk
away from
keep going
when you have gone
as far as you can go
and you fear you can go
no further,
recite those lines
by robert frost:
the woods are lovely,
dark and deep,
but i have promises
to keep,
and miles to go
before i sleep,
and miles to go
before i sleep
keep going
if not
for any
other reason
than to have
the privilege
to say
at the foot
of your grave
that all your life
you never let up,
keep going,
keep going,
goddamnit,
keep going.