One Day
When I’m old and gray
when I join the fray
against Death’s strife
at the end of my life
I’ll look in the mirror
and cry and say,
“You’ll die, one day,”
I watch my cat sleep
dreaming so deep
alive as can be, and yet
he mirrors life’s sorrowful debt
I feel his warm flank
and cry and say,
“You’ll die, one day,”
I see nature’s great majesty
glorious creation, as beautiful as can be
basking in the sun’s day
and, at night, hiding away
but I think that sad thought
and cry and say,
“You’ll die, one day,”
I shed a tear, then look at the sun
so warm, so brilliant, so fun
in day you burn so bright
then you rest through the night
and though, sure as ever, you return tomorrow
I cry and say,
“You’ll die, one day,”
I hold the whole Earth in my hand
grasping ever tighter as it disappears like sand
in a wretched hour glass,
its contents falling much too fast
I look down at my sandy palms
and cry and say,
“You’ll die, one day,”