The Waves Of Years

How oft we stand upon the strand

     And watch the swell draw nigh;

And then at our feet the waves that beat,

     Like broken fragments lie.

The spray spreads o’er the sandy shore,

     And then recedes in state;

Each wave that flows on after those

     Falls shorter than its mate.

How near each one of us become

     Like dreary waste of sand;

And waves of care roll on and bare

     Our fragments from the land.

The waves of years awake our fears

     By surging thick and fast;

Each one that roll on human souls

     Seems shorter than the last.

June 14, ‘90