When I Was Old
Virginia Salter

when I was old
the sky was strident gray
my feet were as solid
as water-sated clay
my eyes could see
all things in my way
barring my progress
muting my say

the world lost its glimmer
it decayed in the shade
deer did not meadow
nor feast in the glade
sparrows fell from the sky
as if slain
my moments seemed filled
with a metronomed pain

then someone brought sun
bursting holes in the clouds
wind blew away
each semblance of shrouds
green glistened of new life
flowers followed the rain
the sinew within me
became young again

©April  6, 2000