'The Aging Man' Poem by Michael Micmac Mccrory

‘The Aging Man’

The aging man sat on the concrete seat
Outside the hidden mountain cottage
The seat where generations had sat before
A family party going on inside the cottage
He sits and ponders his future
As generations have done before
Some chose the priesthood
Others opted for foreign climes
Some had gone to war
None of the family who had left
Had ever returned home
The eldest, as he was, of each generation
Stayed at home on the farm
He thought, this he might change
He wasn’t sure if he wanted
Another family member
Stuck on this mountain
In this out of the way cottage
That they called the family home
But he never felt at home
Someone standing on the doorstep
Shouts come in son
It is your eighteenth birthday party
You should be in here
He went back to the party
The family were in full spirits
Happy to see him grown
How will he tell them
He is going to break with tradition
A heavy burden for one so young
What a weight on his shoulders
For him, the aging man

Michael Micmac Mccrory