zumpoems

Here is the eighth of Zumwalt’s revisions to his set of ten poems in his Sassoon Collection.

viii. Middle Age

I heard a creak, and a groan
And felt a twinge of wooden pain
A man running in a crowd
Deep in its shadow he moved.
‘Ugly work!’ thought I,
Gasping for breath.
‘Time must be cruel and proud,
‘Tearing down this body.’

With gutsy glimmering shone
My dignity as the wind grew colder.
This aging man jogs over the hill,
Bent to make the grade
‘There is no gain without’…
Sluggishly passing the trees.
Aches in the joints were shrill,
As steps hit hard asphalt.

— zumwalt (2011, revised 2026)

Admin’s Note: This is the eighth piece in Zumwalt’s ten-poem tribute to poet Siegfried Sassoon, The Sassoon Collection, originally written in 2011, recently revised. Middle Ages is based on Sassoon’s Middle Age, with Zumwalt embracing Sassoon’s approach to meter and narrative pacing but altering the content and the violent imagery to the physical deterioration of aging and the struggles of jogging.