Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Slow Burn

When it happens
it’s like a fever.

It’s a younger girl’s game
the tossing and turning
and all the ceiling fans
and fancy drugs
cannot hold back
the slow burn of this age.

The year when some
parts have stopped working
leaving you stranded,
one foot in your used to be
one foot here and now.

Yet there is still work to do
a humid afternoon to be stared down
with flowers to plant, rows
to knit, books to be read
and these words
to weave together
with your hands.

2 comments:

Karen said...

Fantastic--and so true! You need the stamina of youth to deal with what middle-age brings!

And what a beautiful line--"one foot in your used to be/one foot here and now"--this is a line I wished I'D written!

Viv said...

This is beautiful. I love the first stanza, especially!