Back in the nineteen fifties he was in his glorious prime
And he was the great champion who inspired the bards to rhyme
But now he's a mere shadow of the man he used to be
Our prime years go so quickly or so 'twould seem to me.

You tell the primary school going boy about the one with silver hair
And he will say that frail old man seems fit for the wheel chair
In his prime in the fifties that seems so long ago
Of the faded heroes of the past I do not wish to know.

He does not give a second thought for one so frail and weak
His heroes in their twenties at their physical peak
He does not show much interest in one time has made gray
A champion of the fifties the old man of today.

A champion of the fifties back in the distant past
And time goes by so quickly and nothing seems to last
You tell the boy about him and he will only say
He seems so old and wasted he has known a better day.

Francis Duggan

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/he-has-known-a-better-day/