The Heart Speaks of Its Days

it is addressed thusly:

An ode.

it reads:

When I am young
They will accuse me
Saying, "What tender shoot
From earth breaks
And mere grass speaks
As though it were a man?"

And when I am young
What shall I say
In my defense, or
Against those who bring
Bitter words to rest
On my tongue's end?

When I am ripe
As men of this age
See their glass
From our loftiness
I shall watch it run
Out the bottom

And when I am wiser
Will I stooped, see
The bottom of my
Glass brimming with
Spent days bright
Like gold and ash;

When I am wiser
I will forget
My ignorance,
And remember
The bright thunder
Of my first joy:

But when I am old
Finally at last my
Glass will be full
Of years and I
Shall drink deeply
Of my days and die.

-Ephrem Antony Gray

Originally published on Ephrem's own poetry website