I became an orphan
at sixty
does that make it less sad
the last vestige of that nucleus beginning
cut away
parents gone
one brother dead
the other surrounded by his own bewildering
offspring
here I am
no longer tied to perfunctory obligations
or old habits
whose only responsibility
is to my
self
to open my eyes
each day
stretch open the years
and see just what it is
I’m made of
thecourseofourseasons 