Feeling My Age

 

we are words on a journey,

not the inscriptions of settled people

     W. S. Merwin, "An Encampment At Morning"

 

 

  

I'm getting too old to be walking these woods

In winter, knees creaking like the cold trees,

Cartilage clicking like ice on brittle limbs.

Seeing my breath is to know its heave and heft

Clench in my chest, harder now to hold onto.

No sound but the soft crunch of my footfalls

On frosted leaves, the little snaps of twigs.

 

My life has come into such quiet everywhere

And I keep coming here for the old reasons,

Along the one old path I've worn to as far as

I dare to go alone these days and not be lost,

Still learning how to soften my passages

In still places, to never need to ask forgiveness

For my trespasses, listening for the furtive words

That have always been here just beyond my

Hearing, coming to the edge of the clearing's

Shadowed light, startling, and bounding away.





Poetry by countryfog
Read 695 times
Written on 2013-01-18 at 17:06

dott Save as a bookmark (requires login)
dott Write a comment (requires login)
dott Send as email (requires login)
dott Print text


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
I can't exactly say why, but I believe that this is the best poem you've ever written, Fog. The choice and flow of the words that are magnificent to me.
2013-01-20


Nils Teodor The PoetBay support member heart!
Very well written
You have a way with words
that really touches my heart

Thanks for sharing
N T
2013-01-19


shells
There is something very calm and peaceful about this piece, resignation and acceptance, but the line that stands out for me is, "still learning how to soften my passages in still places." You are never too old to learn.
2013-01-19



Love the quote! And I could see how they splice into the tone and theme of the poem that follows. Our words witness our journey. They also give it wings. My joints have not been good of late. Surprisingly, the corticosteroid treatments have bated the arthritic symptoms as a side effect. The doctors were something else. A week and a bit after the course, the joints began their whining & groaning. So it's back to the joint pills. Thank you for sharing your words and thoughts with us; they too, soften the passage for us. Their sound are footfalls of memories & newfound dreams in the forest of our mind.
2013-01-18


Rob Graber
Wonderfully introspective and evocative. Growing old's pains are not unaccompanied by gentle rewards.
2013-01-18



No matter if you don't physically tread those worn paths quite as much as you used to. All that splendour in the grass and glory in the flower has become a part of you and will always be available in your imagination.

William
2013-01-18


Lilly Negoi
how one feels his/her age always depends on how much has their life been filled with experiences. and yours, from my point of view, is a fully lived life :).
2013-01-18