Leo in Bloom Magazine

Sieve-like, I sort the pieces of my former self
(Or is it selves? The multiple Me I have been),
As I begin the newest phase of my life.
I am moving, shedding weight of stuff
That’s filled my space, the place where I
Have wrestled into manhood.
Last move, I shed the posters of my adolescence
(Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Marilyn) and
Left behind my father’s grave within a state
Where I no longer live. Now, I am done
With furniture of ancestors.
I free myself from generations’ tastes
That shaped my own, yet weigh no more
As loads to carry forward in my future.
The new Me I will encounter lives in light,
Above the trees in rooms where I can see
Afar the sun, the moon, the starry night.
This Me creates in words and art within
The central chamber of my being.
New stuff I’ll make to give away, not stay inside
My walls as clutter. Memories I’ll make
And keep to furnish my existence in this focused home.
Waning gibbous, half, to final crescent lies ahead:
The refining of my mind and soul.

- Nick Pentzell, 2023

ABOUT NICK PENTZELL

Nick is the co-editor of Leo in Bloom Magazine. You can learn more about him here and here. Happy reading!