All My Years

I feel my years today
All three score and three
My bones ache from use
My heart from other things.

I feel my years this day
In the games of the young
What joy to run with wild abandon
Even better to scream as well.

I feel my years most keenly
In those left behind
A mother's warm smile
A cousin's quick wit

I feel my years in flash-backs
In memories triggered
By a song or a fragrance – An image -
Of A boy, A girl

I feel my years
In all things mundane -
A street in New York, A shop in Paris,
A drive in the country, a walk on the beach.

I feel all my years this day,
And celebrate as well,
All the missteps I've taken
And living to tell.

Bill Schatzabel - April 16, 2008
Revised April 10, 2009