Appreciation

I was once immortal,
back before my heart said otherwise;
I was a king
of skill and work and hard, hard play
until the world caught up
to tell me ‘no’.

I walked sacred hills
climbed mountains tall as reaching stars,
swam in oceans so full of life they glowed
and cut my way through jungles
to discovery of ancient empires
old when the world was still young

I trekked through cities meshed in age
I built their frantic networks with light
and lived in others still shining from their birth,
built machines to run them,
crossed towns where locals lazed away their time
and farmlands rolling through centuries of peace,

I ran busy restaurants,
fished climbing rolling swells
planted trees for profit,
ran down white waters
and smooth old rivers languid with age,
streams rushing in from wilderness

I’ve fought and killed and fucked my way
across this planet,
been shot and stabbed, loved and cherished
through decades of wonder and elation
at this strangeness we call life,
survived the very worst,
embraced the very best,
And still, it’s not enough.