Enigma of Midlife

they say midlife
comes as a crisis,
a prelude to old age,
the ebbing of life.

yet, it is a new beginning –
a dawning of wisdom
in shifting shades;

like the point where
the river meets the sea;
where the sky and horizon
become one;

where smiles echo
and there is silence
in laughter.

it is porthole to the past
and vignette to the future;

when one starts
to commune with the gods; and,

when we mortals cannot complain.


- between
youth-fleeting and midlife-pleating
is hair-depleting.

- between
flight-of-youth and plight-of-old-age
is light-of-midlife.

(c) Chito L. Aguilar