Broken Glass

Autumn 

the leaves are falling down

The tree shorn of its crown

Like the things that didn’t get done

And the time that did get lost

As I sat here, counting the cost

Into the looking glass I see

A caricature of me

Withered and worn

The wrinkles wondering where the smiles have gone

And I sit here in this shade

Watching the autumn sun fade

Not knowing when I lost my way

I drank from a broken glass today

Surely I remember a time bygone

In a past unknown

Words said and unsaid and wounds carved deep

Watch the red blood outside them seep

And so many that I wronged and never made it right

Spent a lifetime showing my might

And here I am now alone in the world

Pretend I’m the king and my flag unfurled

Oh what I’d give now for them all to stay

I laugh and drink from the broken glass today

And sitting here I watch the flowers

Nodding at the sun

Then the lawnmower coming to break all the fun

And I came to dread the constancy of change

For after the chaos and settling of the dust

I found things to remain the same

Like a symphony’s sad refrain

So my cup runneth and I empty it by half

And in this painful ecstasy I laugh

Did my children bring me here or did I walk away

No idea

I’m emptying the broken glass today