James Thomas Hazard
The boy worried he’d
never grow up
Since being a child
was all that he knew
And everyday he
remained the same
Small boy who barely
grew
Ten years later, and
now in his teens,
He was pressed to
decide on what he would do
As an able and
self-reliant man
But that, he feared,
would never come true
Until one day, as he
worked in an office,
Considering what he
had made of his life
So far by himself, no
other at home,
He was filled with
anxiety about finding a wife
For wasn’t love the
meaning of life?
This he had always
believed to be so
Which is why he
tossed and turned at night
Was he handsome and
rich? No
But the woman he
married at last didn’t mind
She wanted a home and
children to raise
And those he was able
to provide
Though it made him
feel like a mouse in a maze
Always chasing after
money,
Fretting he’d never
get to retire
Just like his dad who
died at sixty
Working two shifts no
matter how tired
But with some
planning he did quit his job,
Dreaming of reading,
travel and fishing,
All the things he’d
never had time for,
What he had spent his
whole life missing
At long last were his
to enjoy
As long as he wasn’t
out of breath
Which is why he
tossed and turned at night,
Frightened at the
prospect of illness and death
In time he went the
way of the boy
Into the unbounded
that has always existed
Leaving behind their
fears and their worries.
For better or worse,
those have persisted