Mar 2020
Life is a palindrome. When one is born, one
needs a lot of help, can't walk, can't eat by oneself.
As one gets older, one learns new words and accrues
more knowledge. In the middle of one's life, one
can write long messages, perhaps some poems,
even a novel. As each of us grows into old age,
one becomes increasingly childlike again. One
needs more help, has trouble walking, begins
to lose knowledge. One winds up in a nursing
home. Ineluctably, one's existence ends as it had
begun. When one dies, one's life becomes a
palindrome.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
needs a lot of help, can't walk, can't eat by oneself.
As one gets older, one learns new words and accrues
more knowledge. In the middle of one's life, one
can write long messages, perhaps some poems,
even a novel. As each of us grows into old age,
one becomes increasingly childlike again. One
needs more help, has trouble walking, begins
to lose knowledge. One winds up in a nursing
home. Ineluctably, one's existence ends as it had
begun. When one dies, one's life becomes a
palindrome.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
A graduate of Andover and Columbia College, Columbia University, Tod Howard Hawks has been a poet and human-rights advocate his entire adult life. He recently finished his novel, A CHILD FOR AMARANTH.
