Race Against Time (for John)

I look at a recent photograph of an old friend.

Forty-years ago he was almost twenty-years older

than I. Today, given that we have both crossed

over the threshold of old age, it seems the spread

of time between us has narrowed considerably. In

other words, he looks much better than I feel. Way
back when, he would tease me about my youth. And
he was still virile and fit enough to get away with that.

I would shrug it off and laugh the laugh of a young

stud who could not comprehend the reality of old

age which (should I survive) was inevitable bound

to face me. Today, John, my old friend is in his early

nineties, and I twenty-years behind am hobbling

into my seventy-second year. At this point the gap

in our ages seems irrelevant. He has already done

with his life pretty much what he was meant to do.

And I, given my unsteady pace, am not counting

on twenty more years to get me across the finish

line. Congratulations, John, my old friend. You’ve

run a hell of a race!

Seems the tortoise beats the hare again.

Chris Hanch 6-28-18