December 30, 2022
I Say Farewell to My Youth
He stands before me, awkward
And hanging his callow head,
Occasionally glancing askance,
Quietly keen to be off on romps.
We stand for a while on the
Train platform, a late afternoon
Sun putting a shadow-mask
Across my eyes and nose, from
My sloping hat. My youth shuffles
His feet and thinks of friends I
Used to know. He has nothing to say
To me, and I mumble a few words:
"Thank you. We had good times..."
He smiles quickly, acknowledges some
Sort of history, then glances at
The wheels shrouded in white smoke.
We shakes hands. Trees rustle and sigh.
He bounds up the steps and hangs
Leaning out to wave perfunctorily.
I cannot wave. He intimidates me
With his soft unfocused blaze
Of immortality. He is a boy-man-god.
The rail carriages shudder
And slambang themselves around
A bend, slowly but soon and certainly.
I watch it go. He slips from view, intent
On getting to his japes. A silver moon
Sears in a daylit though dimming
Sky. I should have known him better.
And no, I am not dying now
Any more than I was before. But now
I cannot turn to him. Inexorably,
I face as much eternity as he.
___
© the author
by Clark Elder Morrow
Clark Elder Morrow, born in Philadelphia, is a published poet and essayist, whose work has appeared in: Mere Orthodoxy, The Reformed Conservative, Coffin Bell Journal, Twisted Vine Literary Arts Journal, HCE (Here Comes Everyone), Blue Streak: A Journal, the Vocabula Review, and the Sand Canyon Review. His latest nonfiction book is Moral Majesty, Spiritual Splendor, published in 2021 by Wipf & Stock Publishers. Morrow is also a professional award-winning actor and radio personality, as well as a national speaker on youth-related issues. Morrow currently resides in Southern California.