Miracle
by Ron Olsen
I had no idea
Youth would ever appear so glorious
So grand
So endearing
So unattainable
When you can actually see the end
That spot where the journey eventually runs out
And you know it’s coming
And you cannot slow its approach
When you are no longer immortal
Not of this Earth
And you have no choice
But to turn and face yourself honestly
You never were bulletproof after all
Even though you truly believed you were
Which may have worked even for just a little while
How else could you have survived this long?
I had no idea
Youth would ever appear so glorious
Even in all its confusion, ignorance and naivete
And yet
I would not trade what I am to reclaim a second of it
A minute of going back
Or even one day’s extension of being
Beyond my present
Some things cannot be changed
Some things come for us all
Like a poem in the night
That writes itself
While the poet merely bears witness
Amazed at the words
Wondering where they are from
“We are”
The siren sings
And that must be enough
It is, after all
A miracle
© Ron Olsen – 2015