>>> Item number 33461 from WRITERS LOG9407B --- (52 records) ----- <<< Date: Sat, 9 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: SUB: How Long... o twisted word what hath no poetry... tink ------------------------------------ How Long... (with respect to the Senior) Copyright 1994 Mike Barker Yesterday's wait! Mere memories, lighter than a butterfly wing Heavier than the drying sod on mounded dirt Sunken, gone. Hours and decades only thicken that web Spun all of a life. Tomorrow's bright! Infinite, unknown, untouchable. Unbalanced by a single tear Yet pulling harder than hunger, thirst, pay Or any other touch of today Decades and hours never thin that web Until life is done. But today's choice! The fulcrum turns and burns, Lightly balances yesterday and tomorrow, Grind, spin, toss and grin! For yesterday will not come again, Tomorrow never knows the pain, And now is all we have to gain. ----------------------------------- With thanks to Bill... very, very loosely in response to his offhand comment about the younger gen and their years... - `Drowning'- ",...the oppressive weight of so many years,..."? - Gee, even as mature as your poetry comes across, I can't help - but smile at that line. It's like Ming talking about something - that has been true `all of his life'. it has been true all of his life, Dad! Don't make light of younger aches and pains - we had 'em too, when we were there, and still they are the basis of our blues... -----------------------------------