A dream done in by Father Time ( ....and Dutch elm disease). A fave Chaz. p.s. Can you measure the growth of a soul by cutting it and counting the rings?

and that kind of integrity doesn't come cheap.... rarely comes at all. a beautiful piece of work, Chaz.

Yes, Chaz, we continue to grow old, but our dreams don't always have to die. Sometimes they just take detours and new dreams, better ones appear. Your closing stanza places a heavy burden on acceptance, because sometimes wanting what we can't have keeps us in the future, not the present. Still, I perceive this is the message you intend.
~Chelle~

a very deep piece that will speak to each of us in its own way. I really get the soul part.

Well, one has to work hard to develop a soul which isn't available cheap. And yes, The quality of being depends directly on the growth of a soul.

I guess there is often a point at which a life is assessed in terms of its significance beyond life as we know it, especially at that stage when there is more to assess, in retrospect, than to 'look forward to'...I wonder where, or even if, the lover featured, beyond accepted and rejected convention? A spiritual dilemma that asks more questions than it answers - as it should be :) Intriguing stuff Chaz :)

Well deserving of being at the top of the heap Chas......Charlie

I felt like it wasn't complete until I realized that in fact it isn't... no epitaph here, just a studied look in lifes rearview mirror - RCat

Whoa such truth to this..... "it was a young man's dream and the clock of time had been stealthy, merciless, unforgiving as it had watched him daily with its one devouring eye."

I am so glad I came across this in the "10 random poems" section at exactly the right time to catch it. This poem says so much to me. The fifth "sky-filled elm" stanza is brilliant in its images. But the last stanza is the one that really got me. Thanks, Charlie.