The Unfurling of Age
A poem
A poem
Autumn settles in,
painted in shades of amber and crimson.
The last embers of youth begin to cool,
yielding to the alchemy of age.
The elderly body speaks in crackling whispers,
bone and sinew unravelling
life’s encoded mysteries.
In each new silence,
absences disclose new insights.
Memories accrue gauzy patinas,
scenes once sharp-edged
now softened with time’s brush.
The past shimmers
just out of focus, mirage-like.
Once taut skin goes opaque,
traces time’s accumulating brushstrokes.
Liver spots and furrowed wrinkles
mark the long years,
unconsciously written.
As the remaining pages grow sparse,
priorities clarify, the superfluous culled away.
Each moment distils profound meaning
from the quotidian.
The dance slows, steps tentative yet intentional.
Rhythms change, bodies once swift now wavering.
In the unhurried movements,
wisdom stirs.
In the end, flesh fails,
the body’s fragile vessel
surrendering the immortal spirit
to new mysteries.
But in each passage, lessons lie,
patiently awaiting deciphering.