What once was a pebble has gathered
no moss, rolling (not yet
declining?) towards middle age,
that problematic but venerable epoch
of reading glasses
and white hair
and aching back.
I clearly see the oncoming
shadow of dark golden years overtaking me,
weighing on me as I tumble
faster, as we age onward,
dropping like a stone, perfected
for the fall
through a life – if not well
lived – at least
survived.
The blind man hopes
through heightened senses he may hear
the darkness ebb, hindsight
reflected
in the vanity mirror he no longer bothers
with, confident that
maybe
a life without regret is one well lived
after all. After all.
(c) 2019 by Phillip Knight Scott
Written for several prompts:
– August Writing Prompts at Putting My Feet in the Air : “heightened senses”
– Ragtag Daily Prompt : “pebble”
– Your Daily Word Prompt : “problematic”
Also posted for this week’s real toad challenge. I chose the song “We age onward” … in case you couldn’t tell.
Very Nice- I chose the same song.
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It was kismet – I had similar themes rolling around in my head and then saw that and it was meant to be.
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Yes, aging seems to be on my mind a lot these days…
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Ironic that the less time we have, the more we waste on thinking about something we can’t do anything about. Is that irony? It’s something.
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Haha! Put that way, yes. My thoughts lean more to the curious- what’s next?
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naturally – but also something we can’t do anything about 🙂
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Yes, indeed.
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Well, you described me to a “T” …. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
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Thanks so much 🙂
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A poignant reflection……
There is life past middle-age
Playing the fiddle on the same old stage
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I’m trusting that’s true 🙂
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According Ivor’s world…..
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A Life without regret, if only! Mind you I am often reminded of the quote “If you have never made a mistake, you have never made anything”.
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Ageing is that thing we must do with grace and your words did justice to this song. ( not sure if I’d already commented 🙂 )
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Thanks so much! I’m trying to remain graceful 🙂
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😊
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I am thankful for poetry. It is a cup where I can place my thoughts as my mind and body decline.
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Well said!
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“….Perfected for a fall…through a life….survived.” Oh, I so resonate with those lines! A life without regret is a fine life indeed!
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Thanks so much! Hopefully I have much more life to fill with no regrets 🙂
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Hey, we live until we die. Best make good use of the time we have left, no time for regrets!
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Very true!
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Oh whoops, comment got sent before done – SO – meant to say nicely penned. Aloha.
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I do feel the same… but I think I will continue to feel different than my hair might tell
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