Forty-three sustains his love of life,
Old enough to know what he must do.
Responsibilities have come with age,
The burden and the blessing of this stage,
Yielding joys less pure than those he knew.
There are the distant child and former wife,
Hard truths that no resentment can assuage.
Retired parents soon will need him, too,
Encumbering him on both sides as the view
Encompasses more grace than he can gauge.
Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.