All those years wrestling with the question until it became reality
An unabashed dirge of conflicting emotions
The absence of ceremonial observance
An intimate plea to accept, adapt and adjust
Mourning what's been lost under merciless waves
Offering hopeless resistance to the collapse of time
Stumbling and falling with each reserved and perilous step
Stop! .... Before it all fades
Into this we blindly advance
Creeping forward with humility
Allowing for trepidation
For we failed to prepare
Protecting earned dignity
Making peace with yesterday's fallout
Regulating acceptance of unbrokered terms
Toward an uncertain distance
Or whatever arrives
In these waning moments
August /September/October 2024
