Middle Age
Now the midwinter grind is on me, New York drills through my nerves, as I walk the chew-up street. At 45 what next, what next at every corner I meet my father, my age, still alive. father, forgive me my injuries, as I forgive those I have injured! You never climbed mount sion, yet left dinosaur death-steps on the crust, where I must
Middle Age - meaning Summary
Inheritance, Guilt, and Midlife
The poem presents middle age as a period of exhausted self-questioning. Walking through New York, the speaker feels worn down by the city and repeatedly confronted by the memory of his father, who was the same age and still living. A prayer for mutual forgiveness turns personal guilt into a recognition of harm passed between generations. The father’s imposing legacy leaves the speaker feeling unable to escape inherited patterns of decline and mortality.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.