In Deep Water

Except for being spanked
Growing pains disappear
As the decades lose veneer.
In late adulthood things
You’d thought you’d remember
—how offended at being passed over—
No longer reverberate.
Why was I irate?
I don’t know now.
And that victory? What was won?
Why was I smiling at someone?
I don’t know now.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Late in life, we sink in deep water.
All that marked our journey blends
In ripples that used to mean something,
But now are just a punctuation mark
That the pilgrimage is ending. Bye!
A larger sorrow arises, a deeper joy
Presents, but then both meld into one wave
That washes over us to soothe what we forgave:
Our profile evens out in darkness bathed.