Recalibration

I can no longer keep a

Warrior’s pace

Always pushing past my limitations

Sore and tired but
Content, confident that

Pain is only strength in embryonic form

The signals have been switched the

Rules upended, now my

Lexicon is speaking ancient tongues

An ache or sore is warning that my

Shelf life is exceeded, boundaries o’er-reached

Reminder that my expiration date is, damn,

Too close

I am no longer over-engineered

But merely overwhelmed

My homework? Studying the

Tensile strength of aging tendons, pinpointing the

Threshold past which quintile muscles cannot go

Learning leisured speed and lazy durability

Recognizing that I can’t outrun the young