Ignoble Age
Ignoble age in haunting circles preys upon my life,
My hair in hoary whiteness like a flag,
I surrender, ruthless time, unto thy bitter strife!
My memories I keep within my swag…
The pink and red of dawning day in splendour from the sun,
A pledge from God unto our humble town,
A feeble infant, helpless small, my virgin life begun,
In swaddling rags upon my mother’s gown.
Then, with time, in toddler form, I’d play in gardens green,
My tongue awake to speak my mind and will,
The afternoon in golden glory spread in lustrous sheen,
The high creator peerless in his skill!
A schoolboy next, in keen surveillance of the ways of men,
With language skills and knowledge well imbued,
My merriment with peers conducted in the schoolyard pen,
A love of learning happily ensued.
A youth of vigour, grown in strength, and fortune in my keep,
I’d sport in forests neath the pastel sky,
Handsome fair and comely made, o’er stile and fence I’d leap,
Courting maidens haply by and by.
Then a man with robust hands, a farrier, and strong,
Tending horses through the livelong day,
In their stately company I’d tarry and belong,
Grooming them to brightness on the hay.
Then a husband roused to fullness with two children blessed,
A wife in sweet devotion at my side,
Tending our two children, praised with cheer and well caressed,
Through the years, in love we did abide.
Then a wry catastrophe, my family struck dead,
Cast from o’er the clifftop in the storm,
Paralysed inside and sore befuddled in my head,
My soul aggrieved and lost in piteous form.
Now a careless vagabond upon the winding road,
Over dale and hillock like a ghost,
Lost in mem’ry of the past, the forest my abode,
Mourning for the souls I loved the most.
Such a reckless wanderlust, with books for reverie,
Poetry my therapist and balm,
Ever failing to placate my ageless malady,
The bottle ever present in my arm.
Now, upon the mountaintop, I stand with weathered eyes,
Years in gladness then misfortune spent,
Happily I contemplate the hour of my demise,
Sweet Jesus take my soul, for I repent!
ADL
adamdaniel 