The Winds of Time

Inspired by Shakespeare's The Seven Ages of Man

 Cradle to grave the cycle spins

      fresh newborn babe

 tabula rasa ..nothing is known

       as she begins life

 Suddenly school finds her willing   

 to absorb everything, she is

 bubblegum and petticoats 

with bouncing curls 

eager to learn she goes

      skipping off to school

  Through the doors of college

she enters, a young woman

, she finds books a thousand

 more pages wise.

she is a balancing act 

on the edge

 of career and romance

 the world is her rose garden 

 She ponders motherhood 

with rich rewards and 

wishes it to be hers. 

marriage to her handsome

 beau~ love she calls her own

dreams come  true; 

      she feels blessed..

 And so the wheel turns

 she's found the gateway 

to middle age seeing her 

children grown, she has 

 given them wings to fly 

and now finds herself alone..

 Oh,what now do I do

             in this empty home?

 Days fly and years pass 

she looks upon the looking glass

that unforgiving mirror where truth 

of age is profound. she gazes 

into its proof factual; she's found 

old age,   she laughs~then cries 

 She accepts her gray ending days

 as she gathers her roses

 she knows she's tended her garden well .

sweet scents gone with the winds of time

.        yet she lingers on,  as she 

     waits for life's final last breath

        

      

    

 In memories of morning dew drops

        kissing the flowers that once  

                .  bloomed fair

Reviews

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

A incredible journey from cradle to grave. You told a beautiful and yet heart-rending tale of a life lived. All in a blink of an eye. Your ending captures what I would often see in my grandmother's eyes near her end when she was tending her garden. She so loved her roses.

[Fran Marie]

Thanks Carlos for reading yes the ending is rather sad in the seventh age of women or for men as its the cycle of life completed as Shakespeare wrote in the seven ages of men..in the above photo with this poem..i appreciate your kind review ..

[Ovi-Odiete]

Life at a glance indeed. Such a beautiful poem Fran and thanks for the reminder

[Fran Marie]

Thanks ever so much
for your kind reviews on my poetry;

[Chris Shaw]

A whole life time captured here in one poem Fran. Through the ages and stages of womanhood. The ending seems rather sad. We all pass on, but old age can these days bring new opportunities too. Your poem reflects the lives of my grandmother's and my own mother well. Much to contemplate here dear Fran. All the best to you dear poet.

Chris

[Fran Marie]

Thanks Chris..we live and die ..yes the ending is sad ..i try to maintain and portray the old fashion values of our mothers and grandmother's with flowery words..i wonder what they would have thought about this metaverse.virtual reality connected world of "second life"
we live in lol..i appreciate your kind words

fashion values

[Patricia Wedel]

dearest Fran... you have painted a Kaleidoscope of
moments that fly by like Arabian Nights ... if only we could relive those days of never-ending Goals... "build a boy... so a wife will not have to mend a Man. Then he marries and they mend each other. However, College was an Adventure and a "dating site". I learned to Snow-Ski during the Christmas Break... my favorite Subject by far was the Instructor who taught me to Snow-Ski. I have discovered that "Laughter" is the best Medicine. gently, Pat

[Fran Marie]

Thanks dear Pat..yes fly by like the Arabian.Nights..love that..yes we're
born.then grade school.on to college
marriage and career and so forth time
waits. for no man..oh now we know
Those college days ..the ski instructor
eh? Lol..did the snow melt? haha those
were the days huh? I appreciate you reading a nd kind words dear poet

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Fran… laughter is the best Medicine…
Hope you got a chuckle … Merriest Christmas… I always get the Spirit. tenderly, Pat

[John the Baptist]

As has been said, all biographies end the same way. Despite the somber ending, it sounds as though this person has passed through this place in as fine a fashion as can be expected. At least she wasn't the victim of a mass shooting.

[Fran Marie]

Thanks..or commit suicide like some do
the seven ages of women vary..this is just a general write up / outline for most
it doesn't include the many emotions felt
along life's path..go in any great detail