Gordon Nightingale
Reached the peak
And the other side,
Now begins
The Downward slide.
You rose so high,
Athletic best,
Mentally fit
For any test.
High performance,
Medals won,
Now it seems
You’ve had your run.
It was so good
And so much fun,
But…
The Downward spiral
Has begun.
First the hip
And then the knees,
Once efficient lungs
Start to wheeze.
Hills once run,
Now have to walk,
No conversation,
Hard to talk.
Memory faulty,
Forgetting names,
Can’t even think
Of something to blame.
A racing bike
I used to straddle.
Can no longer swing
Leg over the saddle.
Electric bike,
Step-thru frame,
Fitness going
Down the drain.
Watch the diet,
Reducing fat,
Weight increases!
So much for that!
A few more seasons
Might reach the bottom,
Dead and buried,
Soon forgotten.
Gordon Nightingale is a local author and poet and the convenor of the Daylesford U3A Writers’ Circle.
