He’s My Age - Jo Ann Smith

[Lawrence Robinson]

He’s My Age
 
why do I think he’s too old
because he’s my age
and though I rage with him in defiance 
and weep with him in denial
time defines the end of everything
and the toll of long life is inescapable
like a battery that starts  stutters  stops 
as it loses charge toward a drained destiny
 
his once sure-footed gait deranged by broken bones
speech slowed to the halting crawl of his mind
body bent by the basket of burdens he carries 
his grip on the torch of freedom slipping 
he dare not let it drop
 
I woke up old again this morning 
tangled in twisted sheets of impending doom
no familiar sounds to dull my anxiety 
no wall shadows to announce the coming of light 
it is more than three hours before Morning Joe 
reports the breaking news
 
	- Jo Ann Smith