Extractions

A tooth comes out that leaves a gap,
A part of you since you were twelve.

Hair recedes and thins and grays,
Taken for granted in earlier days.

Our pace slows and loses grace,
Lines increase upon our face.

A hip, a knee that once worked fine,
To be replaced by artifice.

Eyes and ears need special aides,
To see and hear as in our youth.

Body functions diminishing,
Needing meds or a scalpel's slice.

Memory fades, questions repeated,
Confusion replacing clearer thought.

Extractions from our former selves,
The original forever gone.

We mourn the loss, adjust to change,
Being thankful for what remains.