Wild Woman on Aging

Everything in nature erodes gracefully.

But here comes Wild Woman, on the hobble,

one foot ponderously after the other: oops!

a gnarly tree root discombobbles.

The tree leans and cracks

like the fissures in her face,

and her daily prayer is simply

for a little pool of grace.

Still, for all she's learning,

she doesn't want to go.

She'll miss Mother Nature's

enchanting, never-ending show.

She is always Looking Up.

There's a Sky Show up above,

so much beauty everywhere,

so much loveliness to love.

Wild Woman almost bites the dust

as she goes hobbling by,

because she's got her head tipped back,

grinning at the sky.

Here comes Wild Woman,

eighty years around the sun,

with memories so clear

of when her life had just begun.

The journey to today has been

one amazing ride.

Wild Woman will leave cackling

on an outgoing tide.                    

LOL. Some fun for the open link at What's Going On. The idea is to take lines from another poet's poem and write a new poem. I chose lines from "You Ask About Aging" by Mark Nepo. The italicized and much more poetic lines are his. 

As What's Going On closes its doors, I will try to find our faithful friends  in the blogosphere, so we can keep on sharing our poems.

You Ask About Aging
by Mark Nepo

Everything in nature erodes gracefully.
The tree leans and cracks. The mountain
rounds for decades in the wind. The banks
of the river bow to where the river wants to
But we, so aware of being here, fear the
slightest change. My elbow is sore. Your
heart is slowing down. And just yesterday,
an old friend flew away like a bird with a
broken wing. Still, for all I have learned,
for all I am learning, I don’t want to go.
Though like the tree on the ridge that
has grown sideways toward the daily
twist of light, I see no greater destiny
or simplicity than to be stripped of all
pretense and want until all that’s left is
a branch of being waiting for its wind.