An Aging Shadow

Years pile like dust
And I slow
To time's
Steady rhythm .

It is not quite wine
But sweeter than rain
Falling on my weary frame.

Like a boxer
Answering the bell
I am too early for wisdom
But too late for the joy
Set before me.

Staring into the sun
Since squaring my shoulders
Against the flare and sizzle
Has blinded me
And deafened
By the lunar siren song
I am uncertain
Of my place in this
Expanding cosmos.

As a child
I thought myself
The center.
Now an aging shadow
I am only sure
The center
Is far from me.

I am tangled
In the web
Of electric lines
Telephone lines
Checkout lines
Bottom lines
And come-on lines.

Tonight I sit
In the cold distant
Flare of stars
Amid the clutter of questions
Too weighty for me
Hoping only for mercy.