most of the people the doctor says will never walk again
don’t become Olympic gold medalists;
not very many left-behind pets
persist a hundred miles over fields and busy freeways
to scratch scraggly and joyous at the door
of the family’s new place;
as a general rule halfhearted students who fail algebra
don’t become pioneering astrophysicists; but
when it comes to falling in love
all of the clichés are true.