I've got you, fight me all you can
Fight me all you want and with
All your mighty might, and all
The will you can muster. Yours
Is a strong will, you show plenty
Of determination, so do I. I am
Determined. I won't let go of you
I will not let you go. It's not yet
Our time. That is our time is not
At an end. You and I will have this
Time as our own. I've got you now.
I am not ready. We are not ready.
Not now. I've got you now. Fight
Me all you want, but hold on tight.
When he lost the wisdom of his age
I mourned that loss for it was mine
As well as his. I lost the little pieces
Of us as he lost little bits of himself.
He was never alone in all his losses.
I stayed by his side hoping love was
Enough to lessen his burden, knowing
That losses do not relieve us. That's a
Contradiction to expectations, loss
Doesn't take away; it adds to burdens.
Nothing is lightened by our losses.
So as he loses more of who he is, I
Mourn his loss as well as my own.
I mourn my loss of him as I watch
Him count his losses, his awareness
Adding to the burdens of loss. So
Much taken away, never my love,
This always remains, steadfastly by
His side although I know I cannot
Share his burden or lift it in order
To lessen his share of it. We each
Share the loss but it isn't lessened
Or cut in half. We mourn in full our
Losses each to each, our burden
Mourned as mine, mourned as his.
When he lost the wisdom of his age
I mourned that loss for it was mine.
Am I old? Your question
Calling for reassurance
Or perhaps reevaluation.
All in due time, I say, for
This is a question of time.
A question posed in time
About time. I am old is my
Time-line. My time makes
Me old. It sets my age as I
Progress in time, one step
At a time, years passing in
Time. Time is aging me and
Yes, aging you as well. I am
Old, let me reassure you now
In time. You too are old as
I am. Time has passed since
Our youth, enough time to
Make us old. Old enough in
Time, my love, to be older
Than we were yesterday and
Yes, let me reassure you, this
Time, you are old as I am old
Reprinted and expanded from https://takenote347.wordpress.com/2022/11/19/concerning-us/
We were careless of each other
We let our attention slip, taking
For granted there would always
Be an us, constants in our world
We were careless of each other
Letting the us slip, sure that we
Could forget and not be forgotten
That we could wander and be
Welcomed back, certain there
Would be no change in the winds
To take us off course, careless
Sure that no button would pop
Certain there would be no change
In the winds to take us off course
We were careless of each other
Sure that we could forget and not
Be forgotten; that we could wander
And be welcomed back Certain
That nothing would ever change
We were the constants in our world
Taken for granted one of the other
Careless but at ease expecting that
No thread could unravel Sure that
The sails would hold against all
Adverse weather Sure the compass
Was true even if we did not pay
Attention to rocky shoals or ominous
Clouds Watching the buoys bobbing
In shallow waters or the waves in the
Deep we left the bridge certain no
Change would sink us or take us adrift
Tamara, really