ONLY EIGHTEEN
It is so hard to explain,
This time warp I seemed trapped in.
I look in the mirror and I see a stranger,
An old man of many years. This can not be me?
My mind tells me I am only 18. I know I am only 18.
I have been 18 for as long as I can remember.
I can grow no older, my mind clock stopped long ago.
What once was pleasure is now hard work.
What once was done in hours, now takes days.
Where once a lithe young body sweated and strained,
It is now old and deformed and drained.
My mind grows frailer with each passing year.
Without thinking I attempt things my body is no longer capable of.
My mind pushes my body to its limit, believing it is still 18;
But oh, how that limit regresses with each passing year.
Once in a while there is still a spark in that 18 year old.
When the adrenalin pumps and my concentration is solely on survival,
Then the mind and body come together as one, as in the past.
Time slows down and you know from the start if you will win or lose.
This time of meeting between the mind and the body is a time of flawless execution
... What a pity it can only be found in combat of one type or another.