The Forties

In talking with friends of his own age, and observing others, the Urban Rancher realized that we all have some common issues as we go through the years of our Forties. It's a time of pausing and reflecting, looking at our progress, and charting new courses . . . Poems The Urban Rancher My Bike Childhood's Maze It's Almost Too Late Little Brother Floppy-Eared Dog Only in Estes Midlife Death of an Old Friend Flowers The Mirror McGraw Ranch The Breakfast Ride The Steak Fry The Old Cowboy The Mummy The Ride The Character Our Steeds The Garden The Honeymoon Night The Perfume The Last Ranch Patterns Our Reunion Where Are You Now? The Forties Mortality Co-Dependents Make Some Memories Reflections The High Country How Can We Help? Skybear One of Those Days The Vultures Looking Backwards

In our Twenties we marry, start building our lives, Together, the future seems so bright. We're attracted by our opposite strengths, Everything seems to be so very right. We work hard together, we strive to succeed, Life's an adventure in all of its ways. We're young and ambitious, we search out our goals, There's an unlimited supply of our days. The years of our Thirties are fruitful for most, Some raise families, some raise pets, some raise cain. We rise to success in our business pursuits, Here on our goals we show the most gain. With opposite weaknesses we've gone home to live, The differences show up much more strong. As time marches on, the intimacy becomes less, It's more important who's right and who's wrong. Our Forties arrive, our mid-life is here, We're at that center point in our life. It's here that we pause, it's here that we question, It's often the period of most strife. We look back where we've been, we look where we are, And look ahead to where we might go. Have we been in charge of our lives all along, Or are we trapped in our patterns so slow? The kids are raised, like little eaglets they fly, We push them from the nest to try their wings. We look at those left, are we still loving and close, Or are we strangers, enduring whatever life brings? Does business run our lives, do we struggle to find The intimacy we assumed would always be there? Who have we become, and how have we changed, Is there still a basis for love we can share? It's a period of conflict, of facing the demons, We've shoved back for the last twenty years. It's a time of accounting, the paying of bills, For the neglect of our inner selves and their fears.

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Copyright © 2009 Urban Rancher Publishing Revised - 17 September 2022