Out of infancy

Out of infancy
         into the world
into the web of life
         in which our innocence
is challenged by all
         the temptations of self-destruction
out of infancy into our dreams
         our doom-laden ambitions
our lovelorn days
         the hop and the skip
replaced by the nonchalant stroll
         ignorance replaced by denial
the eager child
         that always wants to know
usurped by the adult eye
         of worldly wisdom
blind to life’s true charismas 

And so to old age
         to the relics of youth and beauty
that hang loosely on the bone
         to time that shuffles
in the slow lane
         that stumbles in doorways
that cannot string a sentence
         is niggard in its energies
old men who haunt themselves
         poring over their past-best years
banished from the eternities of love
         trembling in their dust
out of infancy into the unknown
                   out of words

John Lyons