Older
by Charles Jensen
I watch my youth fade,
a city in the rearview
shrinking in my wake.
The way years cascade--
a decade, then two--
I watch my youth fade.
Forty-seven birthday cakes
placed end to end, a frosted queue
shrinking in my wake.
My face changes shape.
My body softens, too.
I watch my youth fade
even as my memory breaks,
everything I once knew
shrinking in my wake.
Time heals, but it also takes.
There’s nothing I can do.
I watch my youth fade,
shrink to nothing in my wake.
a city in the rearview
shrinking in my wake.
The way years cascade--
a decade, then two--
I watch my youth fade.
Forty-seven birthday cakes
placed end to end, a frosted queue
shrinking in my wake.
My face changes shape.
My body softens, too.
I watch my youth fade
even as my memory breaks,
everything I once knew
shrinking in my wake.
Time heals, but it also takes.
There’s nothing I can do.
I watch my youth fade,
shrink to nothing in my wake.
Charles Jensen (he/him) wrote Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres, the poetry collection Instructions between Takeoff and Landing, and two collections of poetry and seven chapbooks of cross-genre work.