Youth Grown Old

Once a youth innocently played, and now he’s grown too old.

Youth Grown Old
by Marilyn Mackenzie


As the last warm summer sun
Gently descends behind the hills,
So ages the youth, and as a new age is begun,
Learns of a new world, even with its ills.

As, also, the winter’s breeze slowly begins,
The youth begins his journey into time
And must face the world and its whims,
A world which is often ugly and unkind.

And, as this youth suddenly emerges a man,
So winter’s rage suddenly engulfs the summer breeze.
As the aging youth learns the plight of man,
So the cold wind bends the trees and scatters the leaves.

Once a babe cried when he was hungry and cold.
Once a youth innocently played, and now he’s grown too old.