If our powers eventually leave us

If our powers eventually leave us,
if our minds become feeble with age,
our limbs once strong now aching
our thoughts once clear now impeded by headaches

If the energies of youth have left us,
the constant flow of ideas dammed,
past successes no longer repeatable
the precociousness of youth out of reach

How then shall we live?
With joy, with gratitude, with care.

How then shall we live?
With lightness of heart, with wisdom.

How then shall we live?
An agèd oak, a shard of glass.