Saturday, July 13, 2024

a birthday

A birthday at a certain age 

Makes just a minor incremental addition 

To a lifetime filled with memories 

Back when the world was a different place 


A young person counts the years 

While we mark the decades

And you check the obituary stories 

Reviewing the lives of remarkable people 


Reading about their accomplishments 

Especially the ones who struggled against

All the systemic forms of oppression 

Fills me with admiration for what they did


Mourning the loss of such good people

While feeling quite ordinary not measuring up

Compared to the extraordinary lives they led

My attempts to do good barely register 


And yet it is not nothing 

And you more than me can be proud 

You gave your all for many years 

To make the world a better place 


Being very much alive today 

We celebrate the life we have

Aware of the life all around us

And our precious time together