By Martin Rosner
I am old, but the marsh
Is so much older,
Yet we have bonded through
The years that I have aged,
And it remains serenely changeless,
Retaining the cosmic elixir
That endows it as a womb.
The spicy, musky odor it emits
Is that of life transforming
From decay encoded inexplicably
By some supremely mystic force.
I hope it operates for man
As well as the other creatures
Generated in the marsh and on this earth
That we vainly strive to understand.
At last I must accept
That like the marsh,
Earth demands decay
In order to create new life.
Martin Rosner, M.D. has been published in numerous magazines and newspapers including 17 poems in "The New York Times" and is currently part of the course in modern poetry at American International College. He lives in New Jersey.
Again an excellent poem by Martin Rosner, I appreciated how he has expressed the themes of ageing, decay, acceptance and the transformation to new life (on the marsh). As well as his affection for the marsh. His images of ageing, decay and transformation are strong and evocative.
ReplyDeleteFor instance "... The spicy, musky odor it emits ...".
And I appreciated this alliteration:
"... Earth demands decay ...". Raven