"Betrayal"

Betrayal

 

Arthritic and frail, bent,
a shuffling mass of cracking limbs
creating a living dirge of creaks and pops.

Betrayed by one’s bones,

deceived and misled
by the vibrancy of youth,
so very fickle, fleeting,
like a dishonest mistress
with her eye set on another prize, 
for the vitality of youth
has no intention of fidelity
once the back starts to hunch
and the knuckles swell and curl.

Vivacity has gone the way

of the unfaithful paramour,
leaving one to wonder…
what could have been done differently
to keep the love alive in one’s own body. 



                         
                          ~~~

First published in Wilderness House Literary Review

http://www.whlreview.com/#poetry 

September 29, 2014