The Telling Rings of Time

 Dendrochronology is the science of tree rings. It is so much more than merely telling it’s age. Based on the thickness of these growth rings, Dendroclimatology can even tell us the past weather the tree endured. 

The Telling Rings of Time

The telling signs of age

The beginning of a wrinkle

The first noticeable gray hairs

Some things thickening

Some things thinning 

The appearance of ‘readers’

Presbyopia (age related farsightedness)

We have become warriors

In this battle with our age

Armed with notions and potions

Contacts, creams and dyes 

Vitamins and elixirs 

All the weapons

In our war with our age

Deeper than the ‘rings’

Of wrinkles and graying hair

Of aches and pains

Of changes in hearing and seeing

Are the deep set scars 

Of sorrow, of heartache, 

Of heartbreak, of loss

These are the telling rings

Even in lives well lived 

The effects of emotional burdens

The residue of sorrow’s wounds

The dullness and dross

All written boldly in life’s rings

Each year

Each loss

Each sorrow

Each joy

Each step

Adding to the rings 

In my eyes

In my hands

In my gait

In my heart

In my soul

In my life

In my ‘rings’

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

August 23, 2020