DOWNSIZED —2
H. W. Bryce
Light blu mini Jun 12/22 –
I am not the man I was I’ve lost fifty pounds
My bones protrude my skin is thin
I walk much lighter now
No, I am not now the man I was,
I’ve shed so many mental loads,
I’ve given up the burden of
Carrying all my woes around.
I’ve cleared my mind of the weight
Of that fretting and fuming game in play.
I’ve put a distance between hate and me,
I’ve chosen now to choose to see
The good in the world, in you, and you,
And you, and me. Now I see the gold within
Your soul and now I set good deeds
And charity to be my golden goal.
The difference in my life today
Is a new respect as payment thar I see
In other people’s eyes
In response to the new me.
For now I am not the person
That I was. I have removed
The styes from my eyes.
No, I am not the man I used to be,
A spirit came and washed me clean,
And now my eyes can really see,
And so, goodbye to the man I used to be.
And though I grieve for those things
That ruled me in the past, I grieve with
Much less intensity; and though I
Miss some of those things, I manage
just fine now. Every day, I start a new
Slate to fill, just not with things. So
Now I walk like a newly freed slave, quite free!
That spirit who came to me last night
Shone its light upon me so bright
That finally I could see the broken
Way that I had been upon and now I ken
The brighter path is the better path
And the shadows reflect no light.
And so, learning, if not wisdom,
Will guide my steps from now.
So, do not weaken now, the end is nigh
To this troubled storm that’s raging high.
— —
“I cried inside,” was the lady’s sad lament,
“for the one I dreamed so much to be,
The one who never came, the spirit never sent,
And time runs out, the future’s hard to see.
For me to be the one I wanted so much to be
“Once I had a future, now I have a past.”
As time will tell, nothing’s going to last.
The young and cocky me has changed her tune,
Now I’m in September, she was in her June.
Now there’s snow upon the mountain peak,
Where raven black she thought her age would seek
Her humble bones have stiffened up, though not a gimp,
She says, I no longer walk without a limp.
My former self, impetuous was she, now I know,
And I no longer act so rash, wisdom starts to grow.
So from the heights of ancient mountain top,
I urge you younger ones not to stop
Your search for knowledge and compassion,
Learn to love, ignore the fad in fashion,
For love is always right in tune, no matter what the times,
And everything you do, you’ll do in rhymes.
— — — —
And never mind the past, you can stretch the time that’s left,
And you will handle life’s bugbears as if always you were deft.
And you will have a future that can outlive your chequered past.
— — — —
This inspired by RUTH HILL’s post, where she wrote the haunting lament:
“Once I had a future, now I have a past.”
“…meanwhile, inside I cry for the person who wanted to be and never emerged…”
== == ==
Don’t we all, at some stage?
Filed as Wise Old Owl.
