Destined for Anguish and Pain
The grandfather reached for his new pair of leathers,
But time and again trembling hands failed to lace them.
In aging, we, too, will wax old like a garment.
New music takes to the streets as favorite beats
Thriving in young ears, but over the years those songs
Don’t always hang on, waxing old like a garment.
Some genomes that saved our ancestors from the plague
May now sentence us to diseased anguish and pain.
We will all be called to wax old like a garment!
The second law of thermodynamics speaks of
A universe wearing out. Its two founders
Clausius and Kelvin have since waxed old like garments.
The Prophet Isaiah spoke of judgment and hope
For Jerusalem. We are strangers to this world.
His message: “The earth will wear out like a garment.”
Jason, your writings may outlive you, but not for long.
Here and gone, transmissions of light and pressed ink,
Destined to stay on earth, waxing old like garments.
Author’s note: I love the richness of the English language, especially the use of metaphor in comparing two totally unrelated things to provide you and me, as part of the audience, with a vivid image or expression. This poem employs the Ghazel poetic form, whose roots lie in 7th-century Arabia, later adopted by medieval Persian poets. This particular form borrows from one of my favorite poets, Robert Bly, fashioning six tercets.
“To a father waxing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter; sons have spirits of a higher pitch, but less inclined to endearing fondness.”
