contemplativeThe poem “Wide Shame” is a non-autobiographical view of the struggles of older people. The dating pool changes drastically even while the body and mind deny the new reality. Those who ignore this actuality are condemned and shunned. There is a wisdom to this societal behavior. There is also a lot of pain for the impacted while they wake up to a new existence.
Wide Shame
Welcome to the alternative
a world that does not age
welcome to the embarrassment
when I’m oblivious to the shame
the fantasy is one of years
forgotten in the rush of lust
put aside by the fool
courting youth they should deny
what came before now betrays
permission given now rescinds
no longer are the partners sourced
from a breadth of society
relationships that were blessed
become the sin for all to see
the wheel has turned to exclude
now damnation becomes the creed
the need does not relent
to press the wanting flesh
even while the response
is one that few would want
halved plus seven does not compute
in my realm of feeling borne
for the beauty so near at hand
ephemeral in all true aspects
towards this end I’ll deceive myself
ignore the warnings from high and low
pursue the charms all disclaim
while disregarding the wide shame.
© 2018. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20181205.
