When Did You Get So Old

by L.V. Berne

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When did you get so old?

your skin is thin and brittle

like rice paper.

In your chair facing the sea

you are stooped, bent, and twisted

by too many years in the wind and the rain.

I watch you and wonder when did you stop

being the giant in the room,

slayer of monsters under the bed.

It must have happened slowly over time

like cold honey into tea.

Or maybe it happened when I wasn’t looking

the way dirt builds up in the corners

of window sills.