When first I uttered the phrase "ten years ago"
I knew that my youth was spent, never to return.
The ten became twenty, then thirty,
And very suddenly, forty.
Now, "forty years ago", I was a senior in High School,
And at times life feels like an echo
Of that which once was.
Yet, at the same time I feel more alive, more vital
Than I have ever felt, and life is good.

HM – 6/17/03 ©