Youth was once my dearest   friend,
Youth went away before I knew
Nor do I know the reason why;

Youth went I know not where
And left me weak and worn, I fear.

We went up a mountain together ,
Youth came not down with me;

With Youth, I rode the whales

And swam the Northern Seas;

With   Youth, I    scaled Mount Everest,
Traversed the Sahara’s sands

And   planted the flags at the Poles
If only in my mind.

 I threw a golden apple to win Atalanta in the race,
 With Youth I    cleaned the Augean stables

And danced   on the silv’ry moon;

On Mount Olympus , I wielded Vulcan’s hammer
And wooed   Venus across the skies

If only in my mind..

With Youth, I led an army o’er the plain
To fight valiantly for glory and gain,
Brandishing   King Arthur’s magic steel,
Riding winged Bucephalus to Greece
To seize the Golden fleece ,
To defend right and justice fair ,
Parting the heads of Medusa’s charm,
To mute the song of the dreaded sirens,
And keeping wandering sailors from harm,
While I sing my song of gallantry
Like Solomon to own a thousand of beauty
If only in my mind.

I taught Newton,, Freud and Enstein
And swore by God of Holy Book
That Marx   and Lenin were wrong ;

I laughed with Youth at Darwin, the grandson of apes

And praised Hera and Zeus strong ;

With Youth from   Carib land ,
I dared to conquer England
And   adopted star-striped Uncle Sam,
Roaming the vast continents
If only in my mind.

 I sat and waited till the break of dawn, 
But Age and Wisdom came instead;

“Your dearest friend has gone,
With fickle Youth , you have had your day;

You have to live without him;” they say,
“You now have grey hairs on your head ;

Youth is an ageless   rover,
He   has found the youngest lover.”

Oren O. Cousins - Copyright by Oren O. Cousins 2002 (All rights reserved)