Youth Vs. Age Poem by Lynn W. Petty

What is the difference between youth and age?
I would imagine there are a thousand different answers.
But, let me suggest just a few. Youth is not just red cheeks,
Ruby lips and, a supple body that responds to one's commands.
Youth is a freshness of life; a zest for living;
An inherent desire for exploration; the love of wonder.
It is courage over timidity; Daring over ease;
Conviction over doubt.
It is the making of one's imagination into reality.

Age is chronological, yes, resulting in wrinkles but,
That is not the age of which I speak.
I speak of the abandonment of ideals; the giving up of enthusiasm;
The retreat from those adventures given to one during his lifetime;
One's blindness to the gifts of life that surround him.
It is the loss of appetite for the journey of what may come next.
It is the loss of faith, self-confidence, hope, resulting in the
Loss of the joys of life.

Young or old, we are the result of those conditions discussed.
Either we accept the positive and, remain young or we deny them.
In denying, regardless of age, we become old, living in a pool of
Self-pity, pessimism and cynicism.

Dear God, at eighty-eight, do not allow me to lose my youth.