RACING HEART

RACING HEART

******

My heart is racing, like a runner
in a marathon, but I'm a bit too slow
to win the race, although I try,
there is a finish line I'll never see.
Who ever thought that when I got old
I'd still be attracted, in a way
that puts me in a befuddled state.
Old people can still love.

Thoughts of passion tire me
(and yet they come, unbidden)
What would people say, I wonder,
if they saw my white hair
blowing willy-nilly in the wind
as I stand at the starting gate
with a racing heart?

Better that I let the youngsters go
and spend my time on loftier thoughts
like saving the whales,
that thought occurred to me
as I was looking in the mirror
at the change that has taken place;
somewhere in this body there is
a thin, vibrant and lovely person
wishing it could get out - once more.

Countrymom
4/25/06