There is a shift in perspective that comes as we move through the years. One day seems much like the last until you look back across the span and see how much has changed. This poem captures my perspective in this moment after so many decades on this earth.

My Mortality

I’m afraid of

          nothingness

Of not seeing my

          children and

          grandchildren and

          great-grandchildren

bloom, as they add

beauty to our lives.

New babies for the world.

In the background

          always there

My fears, my lack

          of courage.

Will I die?  When?

How?

I go on day after

          day

with my unfinished life.

          Seeing friends,

          reading books,

And trying not to be afraid.