-- As I Age –

John Herlihy

As I age

I am no longer myself, but another.

The person I once was,

Now seems as a person totally other.

Similarly, the tree,

As the grand master of the ages.

Where the sapling it once be?

Like the moon, the tree saw multiple stages.

What is time,

But that it knows when to take its leave.

What is the past,

But a land filled with the dead bereaved.

The person I was,

The person I once lived in and knew.

The person I am now,

A stranger I must live in, without a clue.

There in the past,

A fiery redhead, thriving in full bloom.

Here in the present,

A balding old man sitting in a room

In middle years,

Another man, another stranger indeed.

With crowning achievements,

Riding forth on a stallion, a glorious steed.

In later years,

Old age has indeed been kind.

Smile lines around the eyes,

Thoughts as still water in a clear mind.

In the future,

Lies the coming of the final certainty.

Passing thru death’s door,

Leads into the heart of the final mystery.

Above, beyond the blue sky,

There, the answer to the question, why

The angel of death my soul to lure.

Arriving at one final moment secure.

The old man lays down his head,

A purring cat snuggled by his side.

A stranger no longer, rebirth instead,

A young boy again, eyes opened wide.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 15 August 2021