Longings

when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when men rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
when men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags himself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets. Ecclesiastes 12:3-5

Hurdler,
colonel,
engineer,
captain of the band.
Baritone,
tinner,
mayor,
leader —
you could do everything
but hula-hoop and fix my Timex.
Now muddled of mind,
breathless,
a stranger in your own head,
you plan the ordinary,
relearn the routine.
The chasm gapes.
Daddy, can I be the child again?

Rollins, Barbara B.
A Time for Verse -
Poetic Ponderings
on Ecclesiastes
(Kindle Locations 878-888).