Twilight

Shadows overtake the day and dusk softly steals the light away.

I see the maple tree needs trimming, see the lilacs wilt and fade.

Musing, on the threshold of the twilight of my life;
The gloaming, the brief hour between sundown and the night.

Was I compassionate enough and kind ?  Did I do more harm or good?

 Looking back, I wonder, did I cherish, did I hold them as closely as I should?

Will they think of me and smile, remembering happy summer days

Or recall with melancholy, every frown and wounding phrase?

I see the ivy's overgrown and the sunflower's gone to seed.

The  roses, speckled brown, fight for space among the weeds.

There's no certainty that I fulfilled my loved ones' every need.

I can't turn back the clock, erase mistakes and try again,

 But there's still time to draw them near, embrace their dreams, 

To make amends.

As for my dreams, well, some came true and some have flown.

I am not sorry. I cannot  truly miss what I have never known.

And if now and then, for just a moment, I pause, a little sad,

I see a humming bird among the lilacs and think, life is really not so bad,

And the scent of  fragile, lilies of the valley reminds me that I should be glad.

I did tolerably well and squarely faced my own ordeals.

So I continue on my journey to find what wisdom it reveals.

And as I cross the threshold of the twilight of my life,

 I do not fear the coming of the black and boundless night.