The old man sat before a flickering fire
The wild winds of august rose in a wail
And somewhere there was a deep moan
Like the earth fled by a painful groan

The weakening eyes swam in salty tears
The nostalgic outburst of a glorious past
And he knew 'though nobody told him
Somewhere in the distance was his apex

He knew too, that his time was done
This earth renewed itself that way
As some left, others made their debut
In time to soar then burn out, like a fallen star

This was his swan song to an absent audience:
Amble when you should, sprint while you can
And do all the things you want to do on time
The grim biological clock stays no execution

And you whose only claim to fame is your youth
You place too much faith in expendable things
Soon you too will creak, groan and moan sorely
As your body sags so does your morale sink

Old man that i am with gnarled fingers and dying eyes
I still have an inner spark that lights up my universe
And my heart tells me that when finally i take my bow
It will be to close a tale of near-misses and occasional joy

So young ones, you who are still beautiful and desirable
There's no tragedy in getting old;beauty lies under the folds
One day someone will compose a ballad in your honour
And we all shall make music of a kind in silent graveyards

Where complete strangers will wonder who we were