Forgotten Ground Regained
Youth and Age
Playful in childhood, · prancingly bright,heels high-kicking · in heedless joy,he shuns profundity, · freedom his creed,treble his tunings, · untroubled songs.One day he wakens · to deeper tonesand slow awarenesses, · solemn reflections.Darker his way now, · winsomeness past,burdens abounding, · by breadth supportedand helpers’ backs. · Happy no more,he labors darkly, · at last cominggloomy and old · to the end decreed,his tongue tasting · tears for his youth.
Copyright © Donald Mace Williams, 2023
First published in Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, New Series, Issue 2, Spring, 2024
Answer: a river
Answer: a river