AT THIRTY-NINE

To P. R. C.

You are not too old, at thirty-nine, to

set forth on sails of hope

to something else in a land faraway.

You have left behind

the first raging bloom of youth,

you have not entered

the years when

hands and eyes seek out

the first gray hairs.

You are not too old,

nor too young, at thirty-nine.

You leave to arrive,

on sails of hope.

Is it an escape? Is it

a voyage of discovery?

Is it a leap of faith

into the unknown?

It's an act of courage,

and perhaps all of those above

too; when life has become stale

and all doors are closed

you make a new door

into the walls surrounding you

and leave. Whatever may

wait beyond, remember -

you made the door

where none was,

you opened the wall

and there, in that great

unknown, you can create

a life for yourself, land

on your feet or in arms,

and if latter, stand tall

even if keeping hand in hand.

You are, at thirty-nine,

the captain of your fate,

you have set sail

to discover a life

that will be your own.

20.02.2019