072323d

when I was young
I was a baby
I was dependent on everyone

as a young man
I took care of myself
never saw a doctor
tho I was still dependent
as we all are
on the infrastructure
of our society

but now, once again
I can't walk
and depend on others
and what I have to look forward to
I understand all too well
but I understand too
as when I was a baby
my best philosophy:
live for today

121220c

 

Getting Old Be Like

 
All my retired friends
have gotten so much busier,
they scarcely have time
to turn around.

I'm not retired at all,
and I hardly have time
to delete spam,
much less shift my weight.

At this point,
I don't dare retire:
when would I eat,
or even breathe?

022920c

she don’t ride much now

hood’s a faded pink

hair snow white

her woodsman a decade gone

still she keeps a loaded 9 mil

under the pillow

you never know who

might come calling

101719c

chronobus stuck in reverse
how young everyone looks
in their ill-fitting clothes
does the driver
even have his license yet?
I'd better jump out
while I still can
my birthday's coming up!

080519b

400th class reunion
how few of us are left

022018d

waiting for bad news
two brothers left

123017c

untitled*

tiny checker

looks 12 years old

but you can’t work at 12

portrait in her attic

shriveled and gray

blanketed in dust

*A cherita.

110617c

eye can see
the eye doc declared
no surgery this month

060617c

Tomorrow, our youngest is coming to visit; oh, won't it be joyful! (As the song says.)

still wondering when
I will start to feel old
not today

051217

Putting old eggs out to pasture

Eh, what? HD asked,

trumpet stuck in ear;

he seemed bewildered,

as if imagining

toast, crisp rashers,

bygone beauties on the side,

sunny sides up,

draperies glistening

in the morning sun.

He's off his game, Benedict

whispered—then slipped

back into his shell.

We have safe places

set aside to effectuate

our absolution,

or so I believe,

slapping buttermilk disks

griddle-ward,

refracturing the Royal fast.

This must be some kind of mis-

began the soft-boiled prevarication

-communication, your lingo

c a b e

s r m l d

came the reply,

too easy,

over the good-egg

network. It's down

to this:

HD's insurance ran out

just when doctors were about to try

a revolutionary

new glue.

Star*line, 2011

030517

buying more cases
     the strategy of youth
piling up the books
     we do in middle age
you know you're getting old
     when you give the books away
despair
     the residue still doesn't fit
wisdom
     who gives a fuck

122216b

Our Kids


One cat is getting old
still serene and aloof
but now he wants his back scratched
and he can't jump
to the top of the 8 foot post
from a standing start
or any kind of start

The other cat
no longer gives us a wide birth
allows us to scratch
but not her belly
she claims the bed
all of it
though she's no wider than a boot

The dog ignores both of them
cats don't matter
food, walks, and mom
nothing else matters

111916

throwing away papers
that no one else will want
unburdensome

092416

Your pages' curled edges

flying before a hot wind

blowing steady from tomorrow

look back! Can you see the shore?

081516b

Clean bill of health from the eye doctor Friday. He still doesn't understand why my vision is as good as it always was. Even though I have a wrinkled retina. Although that's not really what's happening. Vision in my left eye sucks, but if I turn my head right and wait a couple of seconds, everything becomes clear. It stays clear as long as I don't change my focus. Sometimes I have to wait longer than others, but so far it always works. I can't be the first person this ever happened to.

Around here, people would say I'm blessed. I find that amusing.

062816b

Meals on Drones


Flying in low, dodging kudzu,
Fooled, sometimes, by inaccurate maps,
Faulty instructions:
"Left" when it should have been "right"
But the meals come in hot;
Good Southern cooking,
With lots of gravy,
And all the green colors muted.

Just like the good old days
When volunteers drove to your door,
But the drones don't say "hi",
Or "hot day today, isn't it."
Surely the programmers could work that in
With the next upgrade.

050816

pill sorter
big as a whale
I'm my grandma

111115-111415

Scratched my cornea. Couldn't read for a few days.


easier to read
when you know what's written
easier to hear
when you know what's said
Gramp always says the same things
Don't matter Gram's deaf