Newborn,

Body warm,

Slow moving,

Mother soothing,

Crawling, not walking

Calling, not talking,

First realisation of his reflection,

Mirrored face, mirroring self affection,

Universal imagination

Onward, onward without hesitation, 

Time to knuckle down and study hard,

Give his future its due regard,

Find a wife and settle down,

See the world and paint the town,

Raise a family, hold them close,

Share his love, give them the most,

Slowly they age every day,

Very quickly they move away,

Swiftly he slows to sedentary 

Losing track of what's meant to be,

Shared love now unreciprocated 

His share has long gone, reallocated, 

Finally, his wife has settled down

She's six feet under, underground, 

Forgotten everything he’d ever learnt

There’s no future, his past glories burnt,

Every step, stepped in hesitation

His mind and body his deep frustration,

Blinded by blurred self-inspection

Unnoticed, surrounded by apathy and rejection,

Not talking, squawking 

Not crawling, sprawling,

Carer soothes,

He slowly moves,

Body cold,

Died old.