there was a time when i thought about many great things
such one might pause to contemplate what is
and what might one-day be
these days i find it hard to describe
from one moment to the next, the most basic of needs

i spend time like a fruit, young and hopeful as it grows
waking with sunlight, dancing in the rain, gently rotting in the breeze
contemplating existence as it gracefully wastes away.

occasionally i catch a glimpse, a brief moment of truth
the cotton over my eyes, the fog in my thoughts clears a way like
a ray of sun through the storm
everything suddenly clear, a false moment in the gravity of time.
the minute that's an hour,
the hour that's a week
then just as quickly as it arrived, passing me by
leaving with thoughts, powerful and deep
until morrow, when i wake, hazy and asleep
moving with moments, schedules and thoughts, constant and worthless
asleep when awake
another moment it clears
looking at my reflection, balding and grey, just one moment awake
posturing, confusion
life, once full of promise, passion, emotion
love felt so deep it hurt to awake
fear felt so strong it pains you to sleep
now, mirror ahead, clouds again on the horizon
stars obscured, thoughts harder to grasp
floating, just floating, numb with time
hazy with duty
cold, emotionless, uncaring, calm
i was 19, then twenty-eight, then thirty-five, fourty
fifty, bald, grandpa, alone
cancer
death

08/09/2011

Posted on 08/09/2011
Copyright © 2024 William P Strucke