The Fifth Decade

Watch out for the 40s
They’ll catch you off guard
That decade that rips you
Apart at the heart.

Still young enough to dream
But old enough to know
That this moment is not forever
You can’t let it go.

Watch out for the 40s
It may not be what you think,
When domestic bliss is suddenly
Threatened by a chink

In the armour of compliance,
Conformity or such
But your spirit is screaming that
It isn’t too much

To indulge in your passions,
Or realise your dreams
To put yourself first again
To sew back the seams

On a person who got ragged
With life’s relentless demands
And has given the past decade or so
To raising little hands.

The children or career
Have now flourished set to fly,
So you sit a while and wonder
How so long slipped by.

25 years since high school friends
Danced weekends away
And made all those plans
In the cradle of the bay.

We’re scattered now like jig saw bits
Across the fabric of the globe,
But the pull of the sea
Drags the soul home.

The answers are inside ourselves
That purpose to fulfil
The time is now to find ourselves
From the view on the hill.

Not a mid life crisis
But a  mid life, “Who am I?”
A pause.  A glitch.  Recalibrate.
To stretch the wings to fly.

The writers wield their pens
The musicians sing it loud
The players tie their shoes on tight
And we hold our truth proud.

So watch out for the 40s
If it hasn’t got you yet.
The person that you locked away,
… it is time that you met.