THE MOMENT IS YOU

You know you’re old when the people who look old to you are younger than you are.

You know you’re old when the crank case works better than the crank.

You know you’re old when the nights are longer and the sleep shorter.

You know you’re old when tarpaulin covers the boiler plate.

You know you’re old when screams are seen but not heard.

You know you’re old when the gray sky holds promise.

You know you’re old when silken erasures haunt the morning light.

You know you’re old when dust settles on dust.

You know you’re old when laughter mocks its own reprise.

You know you’re old when loss precedes purpose.

You know you’re old when lilacs languish in lard.

You know you’re old when maybe means never.

You know you’re old when tessellation embroiders larceny.

You know you’re old when the blue is greener and the dew evaporated.

You know you’re old when the old battles seem inevitable.

You know you’re old when the next step is harsher than the last.

You know you’re old when the wail of regret cripples the harp of inscrutability.

You know you’re old when the avalanche of inconsequence evaporates in fields of empty promise.

You know you’re old when all that is fated rises up before your eyes like steam from a man hole.

You know you’re old when each hour awaits and days are fugitive.

You know you’re old when manners replace methods.

You know you’re old when dreams remind you of summer reruns.

You know you’re old when time past becomes the days ahead.

You know you’re old when you think that the handprints of Pech-Merle and Lascaux were made by your children.

You know you’re old when you feel you need to highlight your hair with gray so you will look more distinguished.

You know you’re old when you can read these words.

You know you’re old when your knowledge separates itself from your experience.

You know you’re old when the tyranny of the present obscures the masquerade.

You know you’re old when indelible marks melt like icicles.

You know you’re old when everything new seems retrofitted and the established monuments hang like discarded shoes on an electrical wire.

You know you’re old when the moments are precious but the hours leaden.

You know you’re old when innocence is shrouded in experience.

You know you’re old when you can see yourself in the mirror but yourself cannot see you.

You know you’re old when the long-time haunts seemed changed for the worse.

You know you’re old when light is useless against dark and winter refuses to cede its hold.

You know you’re old when time served is a life sentence.

You know you’re old when even the limelight is dim.

You know you’re old when limits define you.

You know you’re old when sentiment is ambient and ambience intoxicates.

You know you’re old when memento eclipses memory.

You know you’re old when the bright light of history blinds you.

You know you’re old when your accomplishments are like morning dew.

You know you’re old when you see sun and thank shadows.