He asks why he is still alive at 91,
why he must wait for the other to
pass on first, as he feels he must
care for the long partner of his long
life. Yet, he is unhappy, with age,
with weakness, with the loss of keen
memory, although his eyesight is near
perfect and his hands strong as when
forty. Still, he sleeps more and wonders
why his life rolls on in familiar grooves.
I cannot teach him, as it is not my place
to instruct the old, and those who have
gone before me in wisdom and strength.
I can only watch and hope that some
spirit of guardianship will grant insight.
Those given at entrance into grace, those
who watch over us, guide us, protect us
do they wait as well in some state of
wondering, or do they share in the secret
of death, the day of death of the beloved
ones for whom they care? Are they waiting,
or as creatures out of time, do they merely
stand at attention, perfectly content in their
immortality and lack of mortality? These
angels crowd the rooms of the old, I can
feel this presence, this hunger for completion.
God bless this man today, on his birthday
and may God speak softly as to the meaning
of his long life edging towards the shadows.
