I never thought I’d be old

I never thought I’d feel the weight of years like this

I never imagined the looks I get

I never dreamed my body would betray me

Or that the dreams I had as a youth would become a mourner’s dirge

I never knew time was so precious

Or that its march was unstoppable

I only dreamed of good times and secrets pleasures

Of explorations of flesh and mind

But instead I’ve been met by this thing called age

And the constant reminders of what I could have been

I didn’t think my time would run out, or that I could feel it doing so

And that regret would be my companion in this late phase of life

I think on it now when I am middle aged

And cannot imagine what I will think in 20 years’ time