No Antidote (Poetry)

They wouldn’t recognise me now —
those lovers from my past
it’s only time has shown me how
my looks weren’t meant to last

My body’s given up the fight —
no strength, no energy
my aging skin no longer tight
hangs slack in parody

None would ache to kiss me now
I’m withered as a fruit
whose flesh has rotted on the bough
my ruin absolute

I’m awkward in my suit of clothes
uncomforted in bed
this prison’s not the one I chose
lost youth still haunts my head

My memory keeps losing track
it struggles to recall
the mirror finds another crack
the dark denies them all

I’ve found no antidote to age
it feeds so on regret
but better to give up on rage
love well ... and then forget