The Drawbridge Closes

Old age brings

delusion

Youth the vengeful

liar

Caught between

confusion reigns

As time restokes

the fire

Tweedledee

and Tweedledum 

The Brothers Grimm

delight

What doesn’t rob

by light of day

Will steal from you

at night

Wisdom rots on

twisted vines

That choke

the palace walls

Where jesters climb

in ill attempts

To heed the 

emperor’s call

Senility

humility

Where folly

once was young

The years have come

the tears have stayed

—tomorrow on the run

(The New Room: August, 2023)