Aged

According to Job, "so with old age is wisdom," and I guess with the multiplication of gray hairs and the shrinking of stature (which I can hardly afford!), this proverb is to be a comfort. Instead, I feel with each day, that God is unveiling what "wisdom" actually means. In earlier years I would have equated this growth with the expansion of knowledge or insight. Now I wonder that it is not the expansion of awe.   

This poem was first published by Calla Press in June, 2024. 
https://www.callapresspublishing.com/literaryjournal/ksfp7atnxz8kl5fa3zxxydhw23zh2r

Photo by jose alfonso sierra on Unsplash

Aged
But you have kept the good wine until now- John 2:10

It is taking years for the
furrowed brow of this can’t be, 
to ease into 
its full-bodied now,
the marvel of how 

can this be,
when either and or, 
twist side to side
for what is just, 
for that turn right, 

those slow sips 
from the dregs
of reason, 
when truth heartens 
the fermented season— 

before life’s mercy
spews from the left

and the weight 
of my head
spins dizzy round 
by what is found 

in the somehow—
when far is near,  
first is last,
fire is cloud, 
god is man;

before it all began
and mysteries, like me, 
ask to age,

to mature the now—

drunk from the barrel
of a wondrous
how.