Young, invulnerable, cast in iron

Bad things happen to others

But even iron rusts

And bad things come to everyone

Stealing strength and focus

Leaving shattered pieces behind

The words I wasted in my youth have fled from me

I chase them down with difficulty

Stitching together clumsy sentences

Already straining at the seams

Ideas flit in and out like hummingbirds

Half-formed thoughts scatter when I reach for them

What I try to build turns out dry and desiccated

 Old twigs crumbling to dust

Fragments of might-have-beens all I have left