In a Private Mythology
By Phillip Clay Wilkerson

a hero cannot know the end
of the story at the beginning
cannot know the fatal
decision at the crux
the crisis point the fulcrum
where the tale turns
suddenly south

a hero cannot undo the plot
once it begins unfolding
he is cast upon a course of
fate and must follow it
to the final denouement
the end where the credits
roll poignantly by

a hero cannot toy with destiny
except to bow and pray
for strength to accept
the circumstance as a bed
of his own making and
in his own mind may
succeed or fail