a young man's old desires

i want to grow old with a place.

to measure past time by

the forest’s cycle.

to schedule my day by the season.

what is growing or dying

or dying to grow.

i want to expect the goldfinches

and be ready for their coming.

to prepare the ground

for the lilies awakening.

and be a hospitable host

to all living guests.

i want to rest with the winter.

to wait with wonder

for what comes next.

but sleep in the certainty

of the deciduous.

death won’t last.

i want to spend my years

on work which yields life.

to have a quiet mouth

and loud hands.

to be a means for peace,

giving more than i take.

i want my life to harmonize

the song of my surroundings.

to befriend time

and the work that she does.

to patiently love like her

and be watchful.

i want to watch a place grow old

to witness the slowness of life,

and realize the smallness

yet significance of change.

each leaf will lend it’s life,

becoming but soil.

i want to too.