When Age Poem by Gert Strydom

(for Annelize)

When age
leaves its marks on my life,
implacable come with the foiling of my body
there is still loveliness in your face,

I still want to love you in my later years,
like on this bright summer afternoon,
knowing you much deeper than every word and sentence,
crying and laughing along with you

and with my arising and going to sleep
have you as my companion,
still be moments in rapture
when your small hand lies softly in mine

and in the searching of my life, desire you like a child,
sharing my times of greatness and my weakness with you.