1. Childhood

Ignorant to the subconscious chemical whispers
that drag in the knowledge of death
like an oblivious cat --

you and I, we sing pure immortality.

2. Death's Unwanted Homecoming

Gazing up from the steady swirl of river-torn leaves,
our eyes stealthily await each approaching stab of morning ice.

3. Mid-life Questions

Who or what allows words and bones to even exist?
Is language a mirror of the infinite variety that awaits us at the end?

What artful hand steadily peppers
each measured spoonful of life
with kaleidoscopic regret?

4. Old Age

We ride upon the blade's edge,
arms held wide until we collapse
into the tangled marksmanship
of targets lost and found.

We hear our children's youthful song
and smile with teeth larger than mountains.

Ah, the overwhelming density
of our ostensibly abundant hands:
each year the petals of life fall more swiftly
towards the blossoming graves of our ancestors,
each year the knowing rain of love-spun tears
seeps higher into our brains, beyond the animal parts
and into the hazardous bend and twist of our incalculable humanity.

01/04/2006

Author's Note: Please check out my new book! ;)>

Posted on 01/04/2006
Copyright © 2026 Tom Goss