Acceptance

It is hard for us to age


Our powers fade in a procession 


of loss. Lines cross skin


like new roads over fields. 


Eventually they become


boulevards and freeways.


Memory begins to fragment


if it is present at all.


Colors dull


no matter the prescription 


on the lenses.


This fading is a patina


gilding our lives


in measured increments.


Each prepares for the next. 


Each a necessary step


towards acceptance,


of loss,


of time, 


and ultimately-


a mutual fate


since time


immemorial.
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Note: revised to current version on 7/7/12
2nd revision 7/16/12