Tag Archives: aging process

Jul 26 2022

Comes an Age

In vain it tugs at the knob
of the invisible door.
As far as you’ve come
can’t be undone. – Wislawa Szymborska

Comes a Time of No Return is a collection of poems and essays exploring the aging process -senescence, and the attributes - essence that make us who we fundamentally are. 

Available on Amazon & Kindle
A C
A Coming of Age
moves you from the center of the universe
to an ever expanding understanding 
of just where you might fit in,
assuming of course you listen.

Some, like the snowdrops, enter in act one,
acknowledge an audience, and disappear.
Others, like the Hawthorne tree,
wait until everything around them blends
to the moment, guarding against trespass,
are last to leaf and first to leave.

Aging allows you to render the bark
around you as part of yourself.
Even in the shedding of mindfulness,
greycells synapsing into the ozone,
everything meaning something closes in,
becomes important, if only to you, 
and to what you are, to what you love, 
and who loves you.

Some enter screaming onto a tapestry
of color that never dulls from the wear 
and washing of lifetimes.
Others slip silently 
into a white antiseptic wrap 
their story never heard.
 
If you have managed to leave alone
everything that has touched you,
aging is the glue that sticks the pictures 
to the pages of memories that mean the most.

Memories you cannot delete,
re-minding you of why you are here,
not just still here, in reflection 
a meaning for being, 
reflected in the hearts of everyone
that has orbited around your star.

Some age slowly, while others,
blossom and are gone.

Some stick like mud and harden
in the sunlight, others 
a wisp of dust in a breeze.

When you reach a point
in the long deep obsidian season 
of the mind, waiting to feel the reflection 
of your story,  there appears out of nowhere

a covey of snowdrops huddled together
in a garden of dirt brown leaves and winter wreckage,
nature bare-armed; nothing standing
between the source of light and the receiver.
 
a point in time where, 
rather than from the internal combustion 
of a dark and distempered soul,
in the comfort of an all encompassing light

there appears a promissory note
in the greeting of dawn

not just another day aging along, stumbling 
upon potential fulfillment

just possibly coming to term
with the aging process

a process we never leave behind
or plan for

Comes an age where we are thankful
for the oneness of the day.

Comes an age asking only to be helpful
to be of service.

Comes an age where divine spirit 
flows through you in love.
Jul 25 2022

The Music You Love No Longer Plays

 I have reached an age when someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to. – Albert Einstein
 
Comes a Time of No Return is a collection of poems and essays exploring the aging process -senescence, and the attributes - essence that make us who we fundamentally are. 

Available on Amazon & Kindle

The music you love no longer plays
at the top of the charts

the melody that rattles in your
morning mind is vinyl

stages of your life begin and end
like mile markers on the interstate

remembrance becomes a veteran’s parade of wars
with the newest and the oldest stepping in time

supposing there’s a logical reason 
you are known by what you did, 
         and where it all began, 

somehow it chaffs of greatness 
bending to the whims of what matters 
       for what was left behind 

what remains after the flood, 
the drought, the insanity 
of scorched earth and genocide,
is the cream that always rises to the top,
      and always will 

a common lesson in gratitude 
for the moment and a promise 
of better things to come, 
just because it makes sense.

songs grow old and lose their shape,
memories linger long 
in the recesses of the mind

ever present, 
we wait for the future
to sit down beside us, 
and listen to the music.
May 24 2022

this old apple tree

 
 
Google pic winter apple tree
  

This old apple tree

is a holiday inn for birds.

A bastion of bugs that are room service

for anything that flies, crawls and festers.

.

I imagine me as a tree

with hot apple pie & ice cream

on the menu.

 

My blossoms, particularly beautiful,

a canopy for an apple crumb and coffee

on the deck, followed too soon

by the smell of rotting apples underfoot,

 

then naked, baring but an apple or two

hanging on like loose skin

flapping in winters’ long, cold, breath.

 

I imagine being reincarnate

offering a feast of fruit

in every lifetime.

 

I’m to look at it all,

the crusting apple tree

budding outside my window,

without imparting my perception

 

for then it becomes

all that I am.

Pre Pandemic Repost from 2015

Mar 28 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – senior moments

 old man on street corner
This will be my last posting of the SEN-ESSENCE poems for a little while, as I have been consumed with another literary project, and have not had the time to focus on the blog. My apologies for not responding in kind to those who have commented and liked these poems, I will do my best to return the visits.  My internet connection is somewhat slow here in my little Mexican village, so it does take some time to reach all the blogs I love to visit.  The picture could be me waiting for an internet connection.

 

 

Senior moments

gray cells synapsing

and disappearing into the ozone,

looking forever

for what’s right in

front of you.

 

in the ungluing of the universe

as you contemplate

the oneness of the world

 

the mindful exercise of being

in the moment,

 

goes beyond an ephemeral thought,

a shortness of breath,

 

and becomes reality

as we perceive it

 

a cocktail of awe and wonder

with an olive of doubt.

 

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com
Mar 27 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – some days

 SEN-ESSENCE, “on the art of aging’ published in 2010, is available on amazon.  After being officially labelled “old” at 65 by the Canadian Gov’t, in SEN-ESSENCE, over the last many years, I have explored the aging process (senescence), and the attributes (essence) that make us who we fundamentally are – forever young at heart.

13

 

Some days

a wasp is crawling up your pant leg.

first snow intrudes, an omen of more to come.

 

Some days come and go,

when you can’t remember

what shirt you wore yesterday,

what you had for lunch,

what you were supposed to

pick up on the way home.

 

thankful you have a home,

a mindful nutherday

still growing, and shedding, not wasting

away – after all these years.

 

some days are troublesome

some trouble free.

some full of fend and forgive

with a promise of a better day.

 

joyful of remembering in kindness

all that has passed away,

still knowing and believing

everything,       now,

in wonder to perceive

forever,                        here to stay

 

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com
Mar 26 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – when you think upon it

 SEN-ESSENCE, “on the art of aging’ published in 2010, is available on amazon.  After being officially labelled “old” at 65 by the Canadian Gov’t, in SEN-ESSENCE, over the last many years, I have explored the aging process (senescence), and the attributes (essence) that make us who we fundamentally are – forever young at heart.

12

 

When you think upon it

no need

not to let the rooster crow.

 

just be glad you are in hearing distance.

 

no need to stop the rain,

seed the snow,

restrain from letting go.

 

no need to fear

for the divine evolution

is the letting go.

 

when you think upon it

what takes place,

what you weather

and are thankful for,

 

is but an awakening grace

needing not

but to let the rooster crow

 

just be glad

in the greeting

of another day

 

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com
Mar 22 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – men as they age

 SEN-ESSENCE, “on the art of aging’ published in 2010, is available on amazon.  After being officially labelled “old” at 65 by the Canadian Gov’t, in SEN-ESSENCE, over the last many years, I have explored the aging process (senescence), and the attributes (essence) that make us who we fundamentally are – forever young at heart.

8

 

Men as they age

turn into cooks and cleaners

as if the less they have to do,

the more they are able to do,

in the art of living

 

for some, the mechanics of it

gives way to the subtle blending

of ginger, curry, and fresh cut vegetables,

sautéing in a pot thirsty for broth.

 

for others, living in a space

compatible with the essence generated

by a loving relationship, playing upon

the subtlety of the moment,

the aliveness of the moment,

just being in a dance together

simmering in a sensuous sauce.

 

then again not all men intend

upon the now and again,

and sadly miss the point of being

able to give and let live,

in the art of living.

 

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com
Mar 20 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – I want to paint a picture with words

 SEN-ESSENCE, “on the art of aging’ published in 2010, is available on amazon.  After being officially labelled “old” at 65 by the Canadian Gov’t, in SEN-ESSENCE, over the last many years, I have explored the aging process (senescence), and the attributes (essence) that make us who we fundamentally are – forever young at heart.

6

 

I want to paint a picture with words

for you to look upon in wonder

at the texture,

the composition,

the blending of content

with color and awe.

 

I want to write a poem

that you would want to frame

and hang on a wall.

 

Possibly crocheted or,

etched into a shellacked heart.

 

A poem that could be

engraved on a floor mat

welcoming you to my home or kitchen.

 

The ultimate of course

would be my poem,

blended on black velvet

with a picture of Elvis.

 

Then again maybe a line or two

to be read at a morning meeting,

embossed on the top of a covey calendar

 

I want to build something

with words, that makes you stop the car,

step-out, stand in wonder,

admiring the grace, the majesty

the complexity of form and motion

where nothing stands still

everything is moving in a dance

of vibrational energy.

 

If able, with the right word, the perfect

medium, a stroke of the pen in a dance upon a page

that generates an emotional response,

unexpected, controversial, intriguing.

 

A poem in color that states

 

what I intend

 

and you feel

 

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com
Mar 19 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – you have everywhere to go

 SEN-ESSENCE, “on the art of aging’ published in 2010, is available on amazon.  After being officially labelled “old” at 65 by the Canadian Gov’t, in SEN-ESSENCE, over the last many years, I have explored the aging process (senescence), and the attributes (essence) that make us who we fundamentally are – forever young at heart.

5

 

You have everywhere to go

and nowhere to get to,

other than where you are,

for reasons not your own.

 

This senescence, is not what was expected.

Time a diminishing number of cells

doubling, in the immediate,

only potentially treatable.

 

Life it seems is what you wake up with.

All of a sudden it is today.

 

Sure, you have a few aches and pains.

Daily your body expands and flattens,

your feet grow wider as you shrink.

 

Not going gently into night

bits and pieces fall apart

are manufactured

and left overnight on the nightstand.

 

It seems every morning the fractals

of your flesh have become more pronounced.

Bumps and blemishes appear and disappear,

mold, bacteria, and wrinkles

replacing the nip and tuck

of a body, once not in need of repair.

 

However, for reasons not your own,

a renewed presence continues

and everymorn is wonder

waiting to be recognized.

 

You are here, having journeyed a lifetime

to get to where you have a need

to step out of the picture,

and elevate the consciousness of illusion

in an endeavor to know yourself.

 

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com

 

Mar 18 2015

SEN-ESSENCE – there’s a seasonal thing about this life we live

 SEN-ESSENCE, “on the art of aging’ published in 2010, is available on amazon.  After being officially labelled “old” at 65 by the Canadian Gov’t, in SEN-ESSENCE, over the last many years, I have explored the aging process (senescence), and the attributes (essence) that make us who we fundamentally are – forever young at heart.

4

 

There’s a seasonal thing about this life we live

benchmarks that have a history,

quarterly objectives unmet and mastered,

–

a mile marker that you remember

in passing along the way.

–

good feelings ingrain themselves

at a very early age and never let go,

only, if only you enter laughing,

and somehow never let go

of the possibility, no matter

how slight the meaning of joy

–

for misery needs a definition

and wanting comes with loss.

–

There are blocks of life where life has left

holes in the garment I was born to wear.

–

years where the waves came crashing in,

and years where the sands tumbled into empty spaces

leaving gold nuggets and empty shells,

sucked into the undertow of subliminal anxiety

and fear of knowing,

–

into the comfort

of silence and forgetfulness.

–

nothing to hide,

nothing to remember,

–

the broom and dustpan of our memory

sweeping anything and everything

into the holes we create in our conscience

–

where all,  all thoughts and actions,

from the sublime to the inhumane,

can be forgiven.

Most of the photography accompanying the poems are from a photo essay of the elderly (los Ancianos) who reside around Lake Chapala, Mexico.  Los Ancianos, published in 2013, can be found on Antonio Ramblés travels! Blog:  www.antoniorambles.com