How strange it seems, that old age follows youth! <br />when all the world seemed one's own, at that time, <br />with time enough to seek a higher truth - <br />who'd guess the stairs so steep, so slow to climb? <br /> <br />Worn carpets and worn kneecaps are old age <br />- and yet, a blessed time for life of mind: <br />for those who wish, a different sense of wage; <br />free-chosen universal work to find; <br /> <br />and yet more blessed still: that earth-bound soul <br />to meet and greet, and work its soil and flowers; <br />to live with gratitude; and scan the whole <br />to find that One which proves the whole world ours. <br /> <br />As iron age yields to the gold of truth, <br />so our old age may find within, true youth.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-birthday-celebration/
