If We Were Young Men



If we were young men,
  if we were strong

If we had fresh words,
  to add to our song

If we were soldiers,
  with war in our veins

If we were poets,
  our voices reclaimed

If we were lovers,
  of women that cried

If we went wandering,
  our hearts reapplied

If we were statesmen,
  the world in our grasp

If we were sailors,
  the wind at our backs

If we were farmers,
  with meadows so green

If we were actors,
  on stages supreme

If we were hunters
  new wolf on the prowl

If we were dreamers
  all wishes allowed

If we were young men,
  still facing the sun

But alas, we are old,
—and darkness has come

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)
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Submitted by KurtPhilipBehm on February 14, 2016

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
115

Quick analysis:

Scheme Ab xb cx xd cx xd xx cx cx cx cx cx Ax xx x
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 620
Words 121
Stanzas 15
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1

Kurt Philip Behm

Longtime writer with twelve books in publication. Three of them Poetry. : The Death Of The Playground : The Sword Of Ichiban : Searching For Crazy Horse : Darkening Sun : An Anthology Of Perception-Vol's 1 & 2 : After Midnight : Sammy And Bumpers : The Fall City Mandate : Revenge Along The War Trail : Death from The Sky more…

All Kurt Philip Behm poems | Kurt Philip Behm Books

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