"The Elder" in "Read It and Weep"

The look of youth has passed my eyes,

come furrowed brow and withered skin.

Hair thin; bright eyes gone dim, what will become of me now?

Swaddled in, warm linen,

drive the chill from feeble bones.

Teas, hot oils and liniments; these aromas fill my home.

The shell I wore is no more

with deafened ear and eye so blind;

Brittle bone and muscles sore,

prompting life to pass the time.

Pace unsteady, twisted spine,

these hands of mine will work no more.

Fatigued and spent, take to my bed,

my youth to find me never more.

All so precious to me now,

things cast aside in early hours,

what a waste! relive this taste,

a second chapter to devour.

Heart now lonely, cold and stalled,

House so silent ever still.

Hear the clock ; tick- tock tick- tock

gaze out from the window sill.

No more visits, no more calls,

My wife long gone and buried deep.

Now welcome death with open arms

my soul shall seek eternal sleep.