For forty years I walked alone
  and lived on borrowed time

And thought each year that came and went
  would be my very last

The ending close as days rolled on
  tomorrow left unrhymed

Caught looking back or then ahead
  the moments never fast

For forty years my steps were soft
  the eggshells cold and hard

With broken dreams to mark my way
  and rocks my garden thronged

But now my mind has been released
  the past and future charred

With time undone, all reference lost
  —my fears all turned to song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)