I Never Saw it Coming

Time runs its ever-shrinking circle faster every day.
I've stood aside to watch it fly, aware that something's
Gravely wrong. I was a young man when I stopped.
Now, I am old. How many circuits has it run?
How could I have lost track of numbers? How could
I have let myself be pushed from scrums of youthful
Rascals, drunk, and bent on making trouble, toward
The deathly quiet, sterile, twilight-lit “engagement
Room” for us inside the nursing home? My heart
Has said it wants to kill me. All of my kids now
Are grown, and need a father like a tumor.
They have their own lives to lead, and they will
Have to come to terms, in time, with time's
Acceleration. I won't offer them advice. I'll
Tell them they should count the laps, and
Take care not to let themselves be dragooned
From their bars and friends into a nursing home.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 80 times
Written on 2017-06-06 at 01:54

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