On Aging

One must be grateful though the world cave in

Upon the seeker and the struggling soul.

As the body moves towards the dusk

Music comes to comfort and uplift.

I hear new melodies unheard before

By busy mind and outward-seeking heart

Though the spirit-song has always guided me.

I listen to Kodaly and find peace

In the choral strains of 'Esti dal'

Perhaps to be alone is best though hard,

In calm reflection of those wonder years

When all could be attempted, all achieved

In the boundlessness of earth's embrace.

No thought of death can come where there is light

And joy and breath of being and desire

To reach beyond the clinging past's constraints

And break into a vision of a vast

Unity and sanctity of life.