A GAP YEAR
Finished with studies,
some young people say,
“We need a gap year
before entering the fray
of responsible life.”
By air, by train, by hiking and biking;
cadging lifts and lodging, and sometimes working
in unfamiliar ways, hard work
that’s not always to their liking,
in the conviction that all these joys and strife
will give them the bedrock for their future life.
Now I’m 91 and approaching fast
my own GAP YEAR which will come at last
and teach me what I haven’t yet grasped.
But I will be in a timeless place
where just a thought will bear me through space.
Unfettered by any mechanical means,
I’ll visit wherever my thoughts and dreams may take me.
This entire planet I’ll view at will,
but with new eyes I’ll gaze until
I’ll hopefully reach some understanding
of what my GAP YEAR has taught me.
.