For the First Time

For the First Time For the first time, there is only today, And can only lead where it will lead, As if today were all I would ever have. No distant future, no dream to chase, No dark past, no promise of tomorrow. For the first time, only today breathes life, And I fill my lungs with earth’s sweet air. Today I am younger than I shall be again, And younger than all of time yet to come, And knowing now, of a life without wants. For the first time, life has settled around me. I am slow now to learn, and slow to change, And I know that the mask of youth is gone, And that I walk with the gait of an old man. But still, I wrap myself in each day’s beauty, For the first time, there’s nothing left to judge. I can be both reveled and reviled, to no avail, And I can find solace in this slow turning life. I can drink the cool well waters from life’s ladle, And for the first time, turn my face to a rising sun.