when i was ten years wide the world
believed and i was cognizant
of every breeze and wave and girl
that came out in the sun and went
into the stripling blur of years
that steeled our innocence with pain,
as we were rarely volunteers,
and lost more than we had to gain --
our bodies, minds betrayed our hearts:
we longed for when the wind blew free --
the tale that ends before it starts,
the half-forgotten melody
that means that we were once alive.
the sun burned down, the earth sped on,
at ten years wide, about to dive
into the teeth of life
head on
