from Latin acquiescere, from ad- ‘to, at’ + quiescere ‘to rest.’

Inside, we don't feel so old,
although our children are (mostly) grown
and their conversations amongst themselves seem banal.
We still wear the same clothes
think the same thoughts-
The same feelings seize our nervous systems & flood our cells
with the same hormones-
some more than others.

And then on one occasion
or more than one occasion,
we are passers by, or
in,  the ebb and flow
of our daily travels, our daily travail,

and we catch a glimpse
of what others see.
And this glimpse, more than all of the peering into the mirror and counting wrinkles
and the counting of the scars,

it is this glimpse that makes us feel our age
and we acquiesce.