Suddenly my youth was gone, and my heart was wild.
But the voice at the edge of the night said,
“You no longer need to run and climb like an aging child.
Forget the beach, the woodland and the hill.
There is space for speed and motion still.”
Suddenly my sight was gone;
but the voice in the cloudy dawn eased my pain,
telling me, “You will see again in a new way
the lengthening shadow on the lawn, the unseen birds
that bring you in their beaks the newborn day.”
Suddenly I was alone, my bed was cold.
The voice in the void said, “Faces you cannot see,
like flowers in a garden will unfold.
Do not call back the joys that cannot stay,
warm hands return more than you gave away.”
Suddenly I could no longer hear
my children’s voices, once so loud and clear.
And the voice in the echo said,
“Even the words of love will disappear, but do not fear.
Silence will bring reverberations near.”
Suddenly then I had no place to live,
but, “You still have much to give.
You will enter an unexpected door,
and I will make you see and be as never before,”
said the voice on the edge of light.