aging
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My First Watch
My first watch.I am 6 or 7.It is a child's Timex,small to fit my wrist. I am so proud.I stare at the minute hand,trying, trying to see it move.I don't. It will be in a new place,but I don't see… Continue reading
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You There
You, there–the one looking back from life's second half–What is it you see?What is it you know?What is it you understand? You have walked through transformational fire,and it has melted from your eyesthe clouded lensesthat keep me from seeingthe real,… Continue reading
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Stopped Dead
Stopped dead between headstones,dry leaves drifting over my shoes,I scan, rescan the engraved letters.This century-old epitaph could be mine. I feel like Scrooge sighting along the bony fingerof his future ghost. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All… Continue reading
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Old at Heart
As I get older,please don't label me"young at heart." My goal:"old at heart"–much more valuable,way more interesting. Life lived,challenges met,lines on the face of the soul. George Bernard Shaw said,"Life should be lived in crescendo!" Always, always, always more. Text and… Continue reading
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Night Will Blossom
We all grow old. You are older today than yesterday. This is as true for me (at 57) as for the toddler, the teen, the twenty-something. We grow old. I'm not afraid of this. I may have been once (and… Continue reading
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For My Books
The spine of the book must be brokento be open to be usefulto be full. Preserved, pristine,shelved, admired,untouched, unsoiled,this is embarrassement.These are the volumes pointless and sad. Bent edges, torn pages, brown stains, stuck leaves–all this is yes.I've done something,… Continue reading
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Advice from the Future
Back in 2004, I was given an interesting challenge, to imagine my self 10 years hence giving advice to myself in the present. What would 10-years-the wiser Dirk have to say to 51-year-old Dirk? Now I'm over half the way… Continue reading