Gonna Walk

Eight years I ran
Full tilt
Nose to stone,
Brain taxed, straining
Through breakups and falls
It was the paper that mattered
The program
Then, that spring came
More than a hundred and twenty earned
And that at a three
Married
In debt
Sick, incurably
Still made it to the finish line
Waiting in line, standing
Hot, sweating in black
Square hat holding in the heat
Halfway in, I stumbled and fell
But I was gonna walk
Even if I had to crawl
I made it sound like a joke
But, I was serious
I would have crossed the stage
With legs and hands bleeding
Eighteen years since my last chance
I was not missing this one
Nothing ans no one
would have stopped me

I think you knew
I think you felt the same
You earned it as much as I had
And I was proud to be there with you