I'm Not What I Used To Be

It is a cognitive mistake, from blind-sided inquest,
to say "this is the one who was"
when bit changes attest.

Naivete has turned to guess with doubt to catechize.
Forsaken, daft credulity
has clarified disguise.

Hard-knocks created me "streetwise" experimentally.
Trial and error was success
grasped incrementally.

Rectification reconstructs once shattered "figurines."
Transformation gives origin
to fresh habit routines.

"I am not what I used to be:" non sum qualis eram.
Experience has altered me
like a battering ram.