Shell Poem by Paul Reed

You prised me from my retreating shell
Into the sunlight, glorious and pure
You clanged the morning bell
To start life afresh, provide the cure;

My sunken eyes were opened anew
To gaze with innocence and wonder
My feet sprang and bounded through
The places I used to blunder;

How more precious as we grow old
To rekindle youth's lacklustre grip
But now to cherish it in a fierce hold
Never again to let it slip.