I Lift The Branch

As I grow older day by day

And heartaches add to wisdom's bay,

The loves for which my youth once vied

No longer light my fired, inside.

I lift the branch that's hanging low.

I smell the rose but let it grow.

Adventure lacks the lure it knew

When foolish dreams and passions grew

And though it still demands my smile

(Where past and present meet a while)

No more I haunt the turtle's rest

Or flush the robin from her nest.

I journey, now, to meet an end

Where deeds of past the future blend

And what I pass, in love's embrace,

I leave for better in its place -

 But God must often hear me say:

I wish I lived my life this way.

~ Michael Dubina