by Steve King
© 2001
All rights reserved
It came an early autumn,
but I’d an expectation,
an inkling of the coming phase.
They say you feel it in your bones
once past some certain age;
that each year passes quicker
the more years that one sees.
Yes, I do feel like that antic rat
upswept in his whirling cage.
The imminent future accelerates.
With like haste, youth recedes.
There is always distraction
from the present stage.
You think both in terms of moments
and great leaps of the heart.
Which hopes would you put aside
to gain yourself a day?
Which times would you banish
to recast a sorry past?
Which times would you now replay?
Which would you outlast?
How will you fill the void before you?
How will you dream, and of what?
Just how will you finger each turning page?
Soon…
Soon there will be only speed,
without note of seasons;
hastening twilights
to swallow vanishing dawns.
Soon, soon enough…
There is a coming autumn, true,
but not there in the bones:
it is an umber of the heart,
a rising shadow in the soul
no springtime may erase.
Captured it with such grace, surely spring or any other will not erase.
ReplyDeleteamazing...
ReplyDeleteThere is a coming autumn, true,
ReplyDeletebut not there in the bones:
it is an umber of the heart,
a rising shadow in the soul...agree with pat - captured with such grace steve...and i too feel the years fly by more and more, the older i get..
This is graceful and true...the years are flying by ...I feel it more and more.
ReplyDeleteI love the nostalgic lines.. but I do weep for each passing moment, not truly lived deeply and well. The autumn is coming, inevitably, hopefully each year it comes later, than sooner.
ReplyDeleteLovely! But my bones have grown weary, and my vitality is waning. Seems I've become taken with reading of lives, rather than living one! lol This was a favorite for me today.
ReplyDeleteah i want to finger every page between here and there and maybe slow down at a passage or two just to savor the words but the older i get the faster they seem to turn...nice write steve
ReplyDeleteA beautiful, reflective work and the last stanza is shimmering.
ReplyDeleteA rising shadow in the soul no springtime can erase..yes there comes a time when the seasons matter less and time wearies the bones...some sadness in this poem, but poignantly lovely. A fine piece, Steve!
ReplyDeleteI often worry with filling the void properly. It's something I think of often. Excellent expression here.
ReplyDeleteI adore those last three lines: "it is an umber of the heart,
ReplyDeletea rising shadow in the soul
no springtime may erase." Perfect image to utilize for that feeling of the rising void. Graceful, reflective piece, with some strong lines and interesting considerations...
Like autumn the years fly by. Great write.
ReplyDeleteMelanie
this is a lovely poem that goes to the heart of the more mature person…LOL
ReplyDeleteWell written in rhyme and the rhythm slides along nicely.
very good piece on aging. thank you.
incredible expression here.
ReplyDeletewell done.