I have aged in years

I have aged in years

Recently matured

Brought low in adversity

My struggle was always

Disbelief

There was enough of me

To doubt

If I would withstand

The trials of becoming

A real person

Whatever the truth of that

Particular statement means

It is incidental

To an awareness

Of the disservice

An adolescent ego serves

If given free rein

As it skips from one

Tableau to the next

Barely drawing breath

To understand the nature

Of a real life’s undertaking

Smelling a Rose

Was always tricky

The curse of a thorn

Never enough

To dissuade

The attempt

Rueing the outcome

Of blood spilt

Always a moment

Too late

Never a hero

Nor a villain be

But ignorance of impact

Is no excuse

When the pain of progress

Lays waste

To the innocent

However long it takes

Wisdom after the fact

Will only count

If I reach the end

Of the road

Before the long riders

Come to carry me home