I never really knew old people. 

But now I know that body 
Can leave the mind behind; 
That mind will always forget 
What it once knew. 

Still I don’t know how memory can fade; 

That like a dead animal it will leave a weak body; 
That it will hang on the walls of space, 
Slightly twitch then shuttle down the hall. 

I was young once but now sense frailty, 

Now leery of where the mind will lead, 
Yet, find heartfelt comfort knowing 
All the possibilities from which choice is made. 

Still I run like the animal I am 

Between Nietzsche’s humanity 
And the Dalai Lama’s benevolence, 
Swinging with a monkey-mind between 
The Buddha and the Übermensch. 

Living in a conflicted age 
Still I sit and wait. 

Conrad Ross, January 24 2020