It goes against the grain

It goes against the grain

For an independent man

To toe the line

And fall into habits

That can make living easy

Take the sting out of the day

De-caffeinate the coffee

Put a premium

On the beer

Out of fear

For the consequence

Of riding too close to the edge.

When the rosebud flush

Of satin skinned youth

Has barely pulled out its stops

And with last years

Sun tan lightly faded

He is surpassed

In things that

Once upon a

Summer time,

Were all too easy,

It is good to remember

That even the fastest river

Fails to flow up stream

But falls forever,

In a perpetual downhill roll.

The reach of its progress

Broadens with every

Passing day,

Until it feeds the sea

And its cyclical journey

That embraces

Both the past

And the distant future,

Brings a kind of peace

To the eternal,

Progressive grace,

Of aging.