Paul Bernstein

Once When I Was Growing Old

Once when I was growing old
I fell into the life
of a woman made of gold
who would not be my wife.
 
I courted her with cunning words
to twist her will to sin,
but her body only stirred
for younger, better men.
 
Now like a crooked flapping beast
who haunts a desert sky,
I watch her passion find release
with a cold and hungry eye,                           
 
and swoop to clutch her heart and feast
when youth begins to die.

Paul Bernstein is a self-taught poet whose work has appeared in numerous journals during the past 20 years. Recent work has been accepted or published in Blue Unicorn, Third Wednesday, and Autumn Sky Poetry Daily. His collection What the Owls Know was published by Kelsay Books in 2019.