I Did Not Change...... Poem by RIC BASTASA

oh how time passes
swiftly like a multi-winged bird
mythical
or like a rocket
here in the now and then
nowhere
smoke rising in the air
and then
infinity

first it was his father and now the son
familiar places in a row
of chairs
year after year and
the year after

they have all changed
(hope for the better)
the child in their fathers
the hands of mothers growing
lilies and garlands

and they are all surprised to
see
how black my hair still
how steady my hands
how the bridge of my nose remains
unbroken

how i did not change