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
