The romance of youth
Is torrid and tumultuous
Laced with impatience
Spirited and incautious

The romance of mid-age
Haltingly strolls
Burdens and responsibilities
Taking its toll

The romance of old age
Goes like a dream
None of the impetuousness
Of the late teens

Or the ambivalence
Of the mid-life years
When career and children
Intervene between the layers

Strains of early years
Now a distant memory
Of successes and failures
Laced with history

Each day a pleasant saunter
In the autumn of your life
Just holding of hands
And looking into the eyes

Subir Chakraborty / 10th Feb 2018