In view of the fact

depressing alternative.

I do not find I am enjoying life less as I get older and the reality of one’s death naturally gets closer. The joys and satisfactions, it is of course true, have changed their complexion but who is to say that what delighted me then is superior to what delights me now in the experience of life, whose ever-changing nature is one of the glories of creation. Then the carnival of senses counted most, the blaze of action was best, to be tethered down at rest was life wasted. Now pleasures have quieted down, they have simplified, they have even perhaps deepened into a more lasting contentment of the spirit.

I am always reading poetry and discovering new poets—new to me, that is. A.R Ammons is one such poet. I find he is famous on the American literary scene but until recently I had never read his work. One of the good things that keep on happening is that no matter how old one gets any day that dawns may, and very often does, bring a new discovery, a new wonder, an encounter with something intriguing, delightfully different, thought-provoking – life seen suddenly from a new angle. I am surprised it has taken so long for me to get to know A.R. Ammons. But now I have him dancing in my mind. And in his poetry I find a poem which could not express better what one comes to think as one gets to my age. This is the well-written truth about life and death. The poem is:

In View of the Fact The people of my time are passing away: my