Optimism

Optimism
is continuing to climb
an ever slicker rope
with ever slicker hands
and weak, trailing legs;
never looking down,
never looking back,
only looking up, 
looking ahead.
Despite seeing nothing,
we keep going;
we keep struggling
because the one thing that
hasn't left us is our curiosity:
that inherent, natural want
to know what's coming.
And, in that curiosity, we find a shred
of something akin to hope.
And once we've reached the top,
we realize
that, now, there's a seemingly endless
ocean through which to swim.
But, we reflect, and we exclaim:
If I've done it once, 
I can do it again.
And, if we're lucky, others will fall in
beside us, with similar struggles,
and, together,
we shall float.