Contemplating Sixty

My office filled with black balloons
felt premature at fifty,
but was done in good humor,
which turns my thoughts to ice cream
and how fast our dreams can melt away.

Raising the heat another notch…
To be reborn, the sages were right;
that darkest part within a pained heart
must first be contained
before it can be burned away.

Now these lessons keep on coming,
even when I’m unprepared;
some may lead to worldly wisdom
(too soon to tell), others to doubt,
but, surely, from love I cannot turn away.