(Wrote this poem yesterday. Like all my poetry it was written all at once with very few changes, so it doesn’t have the polish or refinement of my fiction and script writing. However it’s as close to pure expression as I can achieve with words. I never know what poems are about when I’m writing them but I think this one is about looking at a task ahead that has a potential big payoff but wondering if I’m up to the challenge.)
Sitting on a gold mine
But can’t spend any of it
Entombed in the earth
It lies
Waiting to be dug up
But only have simple tools
And the task ahead
Is great
Riches are beckoning
A gift to the world
Just under where I stand
A beaming light
Buried in darkness
An answer to a vital question
That’s been haunting me
Wondering if I have the strength
To mine for the hidden treasure
And if I don’t
When will it return?
©2026 Robert Kirkendall
Photograph by Nicholas Klein at NJ Productions
Robert Kirkendall 