Poem: The early old

The early old

I’ve asked your hand to stay in mine,

and you’ve obliged. But that which gives you life

attends me less with every year. Goodbye.

One final dance that never was.

A wave that never hit.

Farewells that never did begin.

All this ended long ago.

How glorious it was.

How messy and how young. How young, how young.

How long ago.

Once I grieved the loss of childhood.

Now that grief for something new –

the later young is left behind.

Less now about responsibility

than consequence. The early old begins.

Glory to this, too.

Glory to change.

Glory to it all.

Peach is a well-known performance poet living in Adelaide, who has also performed around Australia, in New Zealand, the U.S. and U.K. He founded Adelaide’s Tatenda Open-mic Poetry event and has published three books of poetry, in When We Were Young, A Book of Prayers, and Forever Again. More about Peach and his work, can be found here.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Sneha ss