Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN ANCIENT FEUD, by CALE YOUNG RICE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN ANCIENT FEUD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The young rack the old
Last Line: One all to lose.
Subject(s): Aging; Death; Fights; Youth; Dead, The


The young rack the old,
The old rack the young,
The one with a wild heart,
The other with a tongue,
The one with desire,
The other with distaste,
'Til each finds life
But a bitterness, a waste.

The young see joy,
And crave but its breath.
The old see tears --
And the end of them -- death.
The young cry "We're going!"
The old, "You shall stay!"
And no goal is worth while,
After the fray.

The young want tomorrow,
The old, days before.
The young spend and borrow,
The old slave and store.
Ever they wrangle thus,
Hostile, apart,
One all too wise of head,
One too rash of heart.

Not a generation
Is free of the fret;
For one can't remember,
And one can't forget.
So, the same folly,
With naught to disabuse
One of thinking all's to gain,
One all to lose.





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