No Longer Young
No longer young, nor handsome,
grey and grizzled,
with clouded vision and aching bones;
full of uninvited questions.
No longer does youth's anger
course through my veins,
devouring those questions
in towering pyres of sound.
No longer can I run,
nor dodge in agile optimism.
Locked in age’s prison
I sit, tried for my decisions.
No longer in denial,
by my father's compass
I tread this rocky trial,
judged by a jury of your tears.
No longer in defense
of ancient actions,
I wait quietly, patiently
for time to pronounce my penance.
No longer in this corpse-like shell,
with my debt paid in full,
my last thoughts go to
my children,
inheritors of my burden.