Stages of Life
What kind of world is this i see;
with failing sensitivity?
When was it i became aware
of the awe and wonder out there?
When i was just a tiny child
the world seemed dangerous and wild.
and then about the age of four
i wasn’t frightened any more.
I accepted security
as if this world belonged to me.
But when i reached maturity
the world no longer belonged to me.
I found that the sweat of my brow
became necessary somehow.
Both my lover and my neighbor
were also required to labor.
If all of the world is a stage,
our roles may depend on our age.
Now that we are getting old
we may think of these years as gold.
We might do so, but maybe not
with disabilities we’ve got.
Our eternity looms ahead
when temporal bodies are dead.

Walt Abbott–7-16-2009