To Run With the Wind

To Run With the Wind

I used to be able to run with the wind,

My hair swirling up with the breeze.

Sports were never a problem.

I could walk miles on end with such ease.

*

I danced every Friday ‘til sunup.

I was busy all weekend long.

Each morning I’d wake with a smile on my face.

My life was always a song.

*

It started to come on so gradually:

Just a slight pain in my knee.

I went to check with my doctor.

“It was only arthritis,” said he.

*

I groaned with the thought of the illness.

After all, I was just 43.

He said not to worry, I’m not alone,

It didn’t just happen to “me”.

*

There are others in my position,

Who at such a young age,

Start feeling the pangs of the body,

As if we’ve spent years in a cage.

*

Then all of a sudden, my wrists got weak.

My neck was a stiff wooden tree.

It’s difficult to keep myself active

When my body is no longer free.

*

The things I once took for granted

Are now my dreams often told

To the grandchildren I love so dearly,

As each day I gracefully grow old.