On this day I want to have something to show
Beyond those mistakes atoned for
In rounds of silence
Or domestic allegiance
At this stiff age the hard press of phonics
That spew out "Fifty!" amply stun my illusions
An indictment for the crime of being
'Half past pretty and still
Just a face in the crowd
Thrust from the seam enfolding the clean,
Billowing garment of boundless opportunity,
To lie midst a tangle of threadbare intentions
Whose options are now scant
Yet on this day I will garner all rusted hope,
Hurl it beyond the staid implication
Of my thick-waisted silhouette
To fall discreetly behind my dreams
Then court and marry the years I've abandoned
To the prayers I engage
With the impartial grace
Of an ageless eternity
Beyond those mistakes atoned for
In rounds of silence
Or domestic allegiance
At this stiff age the hard press of phonics
That spew out "Fifty!" amply stun my illusions
An indictment for the crime of being
'Half past pretty and still
Just a face in the crowd
Thrust from the seam enfolding the clean,
Billowing garment of boundless opportunity,
To lie midst a tangle of threadbare intentions
Whose options are now scant
Yet on this day I will garner all rusted hope,
Hurl it beyond the staid implication
Of my thick-waisted silhouette
To fall discreetly behind my dreams
Then court and marry the years I've abandoned
To the prayers I engage
With the impartial grace
Of an ageless eternity