As ageing runs behind me
And I struggle to keep pace
I feel age showing
Knowing I’ve begun to loose the race

What was my pride
My fitness
Is leaving me in droves
My ever-widening waist line
My lack of fitting clothes

I hold some fear for what’s ahead
As sure as setting sun
And sad I am in thinking
That my race is three parts done

When I look back I see a man
A youth, a child, a boy
With hopes and dreams and eagerness
With pride and love and joy
That passion now is waning
My fervour mostly spent
They’re only fleeting moments now
And all but heaven sent

I don’t quite comprehend it
For my mind is sharp and bright
My thinking’s just as youthful a
S just halfway through this fight

But bones that ache and muscles sore
I struggle to keep up.
My mind is there but body says
‘Hey son, you’d best pull up!’

I’ll battle through until it’s time
To see gods final plan
I only hope I he looks at me
And says I was a man

A man who stood and had his say
Who rallied for life’s good
Who battled for his family
His friends and neighbourhood

To say I was a good man
Is all I ask of life
A man who loved his family
A man who loved his wife

Perhaps when gone they all might say
‘A kind of grumpy bloke’
But if they look behind the veil
They’ll see much bluff and smoke

They’ll see I had a plan you see
To give them all a chance
A plan to keep them honest
Keep them wise and take a stance

A plan to leave them with a life
Not penniless and broke
Not bad for such a hard-arse man
‘a kind of grumpy bloke’

And though I didn’t say it much
I hope they will recall
Deep down inside, I lived for them
Because I loved them all

Clemo