Sonnet VI

One year is a life-time when you’re one,
But on your second birthday one year counts
As half a life-time, and when you’ve done
Another eighteen years, one year amounts
To just a twentieth part; and on it goes,
With each year shorter than the one before
When measured by the scale our lives impose,
And not by use of some numeric law.

Our sense that time accelerates with age
Is no illusion after all; and so
We hurtle on towards the final stage
Like mountain skiers plunging down the snow;
But since there is no brake, we must concede
The only option is – enjoy the speed.

Richard Skinner