When Youth Fades

When muscles fail and 
atrophy, and our skins begin
to wrinkle and sag
like wet paper towels

When white teeth turn frail, 
stain yellow and fall away
and our backs curve 
like question marks

When eyes can only see
mind to mind, because they’ve  
dimmed to pale, murky shadows

Will you stay with me, and
see the good times in the 
blue veins that web around my ankles 
like a road map? 

Will you see beyond the death 
of my youth, beyond the empty promises 
of taut skin and shiny hair? 

Will you still explore the
cavernous recesses of my heart, and 
find it more worthy than gold?