Verse: Lynn's poem

(today is @Lynn_H_I's birthday. On Wednesday, she asked me to write a poem for today about 'both the beauty and fear of increasing age.' This is the result. Happy Birthday, Lynn. I hope this is okay.)

i
every day
i'm born

delivered from dreams
of everything and nothing
to the light

and the struggle
to make sense
of my surroundings

as i stumble
to the mirror
to find my face

to remember
who i am
now

i'm always afraid
i won't recognize me
but there i am

and everything
is a little bit grayer
a little bit softer

gravity
pinches my cheeks
tugs on my skin

like a child
clutches her mother's hand
in the market

it won't let go
and i think
when did I get so old?

how is it
always different
and yet the same

be my mirror now
tell me what you see
and be kind

if you can't
be honest

ii
i have this theory
that we are like grapes

smooth youth
that ripen
in the sun

until we sag
and shrivel

are we not
just as sweet
as before

if not
more so

all that life
so acutely concentrated

and longing
for one glance
your lips

iii

how many times
have i imagined
us years from now

watching TV
without a word
you, me

each of us glancing
occasionally at the other
just as we do now

just for one smile
just to see if we're
still there

it seems so modest
so mundane
and yet necessary

i cannot
imagine the future
without you

iv
enough
let us go
let us dine
drink or dance

before darkness
and its million
silver minions
find us

let us love
a while yet
before our bodies
break

let us
go on this way
forever, now
as long as we can

we could
even write
our own endings
in the meantime

they will be
suspenseful
tender and
sometimes sublime

but
most important of all
they will be
our own