Entry for the Senior Centre forum's contest for October, with an Autumn focus |
THE CYCLE OF THE YEAR If, as they say, our span of time is three score years and ten The golden years when in our prime we shall not see again But still, the autumn of our years we shall deny as “fall” We rise to meet the challenges that now confront us all. The golden grain, the rich reward that every harvest brings Rejoice! For here is beauty and the prize on autumn’s wings The end result the bounty that we hold for all in trust Mirrors our lives before we head for winter’s final thrust. We seldom think, when young, of how we all must be In later years when time has wrought the changes that we see. Remember, though, that autumn brings the fruits of toil at last And recognise that what we reap, we sowed in time now past. The future comes to all in time as certainly it must We cannot know how that will be, we simply have to trust that we have strength and courage to deal with any fears and faith and love and friendship to support us through the years. Now winter blows its gelid blast, the land grows sere and cold. Likewise, we travel onwards to be condemned as “old”. But that is just a label that we do not need to bear For I am me and you are you, unique beyond compare. Who knows about tomorrow? Who cares about the past? There’s just today to live our lives full and complete at last Take one more step, and yet one more to bring us home again To where we live in light and peace, freed from our toil and pain. The cycle spins, the land renews and blushes deepest green Our children and their children grow and flourish bright and clean They carry on the challenge to care, to love, to live We love them all, watch over them, the gift we all can give. |