Youth Grown Old

Youth Grown Old
by Marilyn Mackenzie


As the last warm summer sun
Gently descends behind the hills,
So ages the youth, and as a new age is begun,
Learns of a new world, even with its ills.

As, also, the winter’s breeze slowly begins,
The youth begins his journey into time
And must face the world and its whims,
A world which is often ugly and unkind.

And, as this youth suddenly emerges a man,
So winter’s rage suddenly engulfs the summer breeze.
As the aging youth learns the plight of man,
So the cold wind bends the trees and scatters the leaves.

Once a babe cried when he was hungry and cold.
Once a youth innocently played, and now he’s grown too old.