Reflections of Age
Youth held in reflections, unwanted truths
Reflections of past… memories held
Time carves deep grooves,
etches skin and minds peruse the past,
just to see where all has gone,
and pictures held in wonder,
reveal unwanted truths,
realities that slipped from mind,
and then find place in unwanted moments,
uncovering the ruse.
I see their faces, now barely recognised,
see that glimmer of what they were,
buried now in time’s long march,
skin dry, their lips parched,
and why do they remain in me so young,
even when reflection ties me down,
perhaps it is a chosen state,
to remember what it was to feel the song.
And there is a sadness in their eyes,
as if this realisation just knocked upon their door,
and not me alone feels the ruse,
this slight of hand intrusion in life,
when suddenly time just falls away
to reveal a slow and unseen decay,
as life does gently ebb away,
and what’s been seems to fill more than what’s to be.
Tony DeLorger © 2016
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The age of reflections, of what used to be, now only in memory. When I think back to my youth and the large family gatherings every Sunday, I remember thinking the elders were not really connected to the rest of us. As I grew older I realized that we, the youth, reminded them of their own youth and they were just in reflection – and I often saw sadness in their eyes. I now wonder if that sadness I saw in them was only a feeling of kindness towards their younger self?
I love how your writing keeps my mind active and reaching new depths of understanding for many things. Well done, Tony.
Glad you related and enjoyed the thoughts Phyllis. Take care
I have always loved reading and hearing stories from those so old and done and seen so much. When I was very young I was in a hospital room with an actual ex-slave who was so very old she could hardly speak above a whisper and her skin was so wrinkled I believe her to have been 100 or more. I was so disappointed when they took her from the room. She was enjoying talking as much as I was listening and I so often wonder what things she might have told me that I could have passed on.
(Should realization be the right word? But maybe in poetry it is OK? What do I know but thought to mention it as you have looked out for me.)
Yes Jackie, age does open doors to many realizations, that in youth are not recognized. Glad you related and enjoyed my friend.