A poem rich with imagery...I can see you walking on the shore.
I love the twisted winding path of the middle of this poem...

Cryssa

Absolutely love the gentle, reflective poem Gene, I do hope that this one and all of your other talented poems and haiku's find their way into a book, would love a copy!

Carole~

Introspection suits one at mid-life, clearing the mind of debri to reconnect with those "weathered dreams". Maybe the dreams in their original context are impractical--but what of the essence of those dreams? They are symbolic of what your soul needs! Here's hoping he'll "wend his way back" to them. Like the rhythm here, somewhat like waves lapping against a pier. Wonderful write...

Lin

Excellent excellent work, Gene. Another of yours for my library!

Gene, this is wonderful! I find myself in this same position as I age...and you have expressed it beautifully.

You take us deftly where many don't want to go, and you do it so lovingly and smoothly. This one I shall keep to read when I can't decide which path to take next. Thanks. - Bill

meditative, beautifully put together, and delightfully melancholiac--
Thanks and keep on keeping on!

Gene,

Richly imaged, I am undone by the power of your pen - thank you.

(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.

seems that we have both been in a reflective mood lately,of course i like your write better,I lke the flow of yours'nively done,
stan

Gene, why do I get the feeling I just read the story of my life. You have such a deep and penetrating pen. Great little write.

Cheers,
Dan

blah---i cant even comment on this.
the howling elegance.. . ..
the chaos slightly hidden under such a calm surface. .. . . the unre.lent.ing fear and doubt. . .
let the tide wash it away.
wash it away.
sway and pull inside your own beauty; resonance.
imperatively so.
ness

thanks for the reminder of where we're headed mean Gene, getting old is for the birds, great verse

Gene, This poem captures a moment in time that we all wonder about. Aging is a process, I feel, that you either embrace it or lose it!
I prefer to embrace it. As one senior to another, You still got it kid!
Much love, light, and peace,
Amber "V"

HEAVENLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! Liana Margiva

You have captured an older person , in their now state of existance, and let us see and feel what they think. I really like the poem and can relate to the autumn years of ones life!....M

Best yet, share a bottle of Captain Morgan Dark Rum and laugh ourselves silly!

Georg

Excellent, Gene. Well thought out and exceptionally penned.

Self portrait? You make us love him, because we see him just as he is, and in some form or another, can relate.

PS, I really like your ending. --Charlie

That last stanza slams you like a ton of bricks.. excellent work here Gene! One of your best in my humble opinion...

Myrna

Sounds a bit like "is that all there is" yet when you start to recall, there was a lot wasn't thee;-) great poem, Gene!ET

in the autumn of our lives we must blend the diversity of color into those empty prayers ...

powerfully crafted atmosphere and perspective ...

Relate to this gene. Kinda like an ode to the challenges of aging and entropy. Perhaps we could share a whiskey and cry together.

We can always look back, but never go back..as time marches forward though much too quickly...heartfelt autumn afternoon.
Christine

I surely hope he embraces the heart of his life's soul with the wonderful feeling of fufillment as he skips those shells into the sea side & takes off his sneekers & feels the beautiful canvas of rich sands all wet in surfs tide...
Much Love & Inspirations
Embraced~Embrassé
Vickie

Reverently walking us through the life of a man in such a sad, meloncholy way. Water, beach, sand all symbols of everlasting, well done piece...

Be always safe,
Karen

Gene,
Beautifully sensitive and stopping short, as one expects from wriitng of this quality, of the maudlin. The images are perfect and dare I say autobiographical, a personal season of mists and mellow fruitfulness? Excellent work.
John

Beautiful, brilliant poetry.

Passing years make us reflective, finally realizing that time really does go by quickly. Decades gone, bodies worn, memories waning. But that deep yearning and those incessant notions remain, and we wonder how we might've lived differently to satiate those dreams. Is there still time? Is there still the will? Where is the worth? If we leap into the void rather than continually walk its perimeter, might we find the prayers were never empty afterall? Might we find that we are truly beautiful exactly as we are, were and will be?

Wonderful poem, Gene~

(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :D