Life in Later Years

By Andrew R. Duckworth

The words drop from their lips,
Experienced in both truth and lies,
“That’s just the way of life.”
And, by the tired look in their eyes,
You know the words drip
With the bitter juice of honesty,
Those eyes once blazing
With the fire of youth,
Now drooping with the weight
Of ship anchors.
If they had always lied before,
In this moment, their eyes tell truth
And you know it like you know a brick
When it comes through the window,
The shatter jolting the soul alert.
They say, “That’s the way of life,”
And the pain seeps from their voice
Like a wound that never closed
But drained a once-young man
Close to the cliff of death,
Having taken one too many steps
Toward the edge,
Not of their own will,
But of the constant pull
Of life’s mighty tug.
Those days were swept under the rug,
New hard days taking their place
In the never-ending race
To later years.
The words and pain
Give chase
To your early years,
Driving you to what is real
Or what will be.