While youth seeks
to consume experience,
age is urged to quell it.

Sometimes I’d like to quell it.

Cradle the bliss in ignorance
as I cower in Plato’s cave,
hoping he takes kindly
to squatters.

Age isn’t simply a number.

It’s a coil that ensnares,
each year taking away our bite.

Until it’s lost completely.

Traded for windowless offices,
a 401k,
and the down payment on your
I’ll-take-what-I-can-get home
where you live with your
I’ll-take-what-I-can-get wife.