The Punchline I Lived Past

The Punchline I Lived Past

At twenty-two I told myself I would have it figured out,
By twenty-five the confidence had curdled into doubt,
At thirty I revised the plan with modifications wide,
At thirty-eight I am laughing at the certainty I tried.
So here I stand, the punchline fully landed, still intact,
A little rough around the edges with a mostly winning track,
The joke I thought was on me was the joke that set me loose,
And everything I thought I had lost turned out to be of use.