Birthdays

 
As a child
I loved birthdays,
eagerly anticipated each one.

As a teen
I was anxious to
count more candles,
16, 18, as if more was better.

In my twenties
I wished birthdays
could delay their arrival,
28, 29, as if less was more.

As I have
grown older,
I have grown to
appreciate birthdays
to the grim alternative.

As I grow
older still, I can
imagine there may
come a time when I will
be content to have them no more.

One day,
when time
is no more and
love is all there is and
now is all there will ever be.