Valediction Prayer

Keep those ravaged joints churning For just one more mile It used to feel so easy When the body seethed with life Bidden by a vibrant mind and guided By eyes that still accepted light But that was some other man, forgotten Buried by weathered hands Stiff and arthritic, rigid with calluses, woebegone With the residue of their trespasses In service to that withered usurper Who lurks in the mirror alone One last task remains Before your wretched husk Defy the grip of senescence Go bravely unto your death And in this lonely valediction The ultimate chance to atone To be released from all your sins May your final chapter record your reclamation May this broken journey make you whole in the end