too long ago
i looked at my parents
they never looked back.
but i saw inside them

there was nothing to find:


      to believe they were ever young

impossible

      to believe they were ever like me

outrageous

      to believe they were ever different

ridiculous

so how silly was i
to even think such thing
with the answer so clear:
they came to be with me

what was before
  long gone
    vanished
      gradually

so i find the present
now at my feet.
my son, so young
looks up at me

he wonders to me:
were you ever
young before—
like me

so i chuckle
and i smile
and speak so nicely

why son, i am still young
do you not believe.
i am like you
like you are to me

we are the same,
the same same
that can be
  long gone
    vanished
       gradually