Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A Thought Before Sleeping

no time for youth 




it was time, I suppose, to shed endearments 
and favored names,


the renderings of which are lost 
to engagements of living; 


it was time, but I can't remember why, 
and doubtful you recall at all.


aging requires shedding not just childhood, 
but child-nature, hence the berm ridges 
in forehead texture. 


those valleys represent growth, it's said, 
presaging death, 


a serious matter we must ordain, but
it is time, I suppose for growing serious and old, 


while my child-nature searches its womb, 
waiting to be born again before 


that one, final engagement 
in life. 




Poem © 2011 R. Burnett Baker 



2 comments:

  1. I love this. It reeks of nostalgia, for the things we have lost. You do know Rick, this is something one cannot write if he or she has undergone the sorrows of life.

    And I suspect, something one wouldn't understand either.

    I wonder what prompted these thoughts. I hope you are well sir.

    Kane

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  2. These last two poems combined is a perfect example of what makes you a 'cut above'. WOW!

    I have felt these words before, but never has sadness been so beautiful.

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