I am too old
to not be a pilgrim.
I am too old
to not want
to be useful.
Easier
to want to
see the country
like it used to be.
Age allows one to look
for meaning–
and find it.
I still think
I will become
a young man
who lies
in the grass,
crawls out of
the sky
and is caught.

(originally published in Abandoned Mine Journal, Spring 2023)