To My Old Age
Posted: 23 Oct 2020, 03:32
To My Old Age
Huffing uphill leaves
my legs heavy as grief,
the trees panting
as if at any moment
one will place its limbs
on its hips,
arms akimbo
like a training instructor
at the gym, his new
and elderly client
--as my ex always claimed--
a disappointment.
At home I thwack
the hi-hats in the den
every time I walk by,
the ringing vibrations
like my a-fib.
How did this happen—
decades lost, as if swept off
by a furious broom.
There are creams
that promise to erase
my wrinkles, hair implants
to recover the lost
ringlets of my youth.
Everywhere young women
pushing baby carriages
in the Japanese tea garden
look less like wives
in their mid 20s
and more like girls
who should be taking notes
in a high school
biology class.
It’s odd how koi
and the pink faces of oleander
are the subjects
I now take note of,
as if old age
is a class without grades,
and one I hope never
to drop out of.
Huffing uphill leaves
my legs heavy as grief,
the trees panting
as if at any moment
one will place its limbs
on its hips,
arms akimbo
like a training instructor
at the gym, his new
and elderly client
--as my ex always claimed--
a disappointment.
At home I thwack
the hi-hats in the den
every time I walk by,
the ringing vibrations
like my a-fib.
How did this happen—
decades lost, as if swept off
by a furious broom.
There are creams
that promise to erase
my wrinkles, hair implants
to recover the lost
ringlets of my youth.
Everywhere young women
pushing baby carriages
in the Japanese tea garden
look less like wives
in their mid 20s
and more like girls
who should be taking notes
in a high school
biology class.
It’s odd how koi
and the pink faces of oleander
are the subjects
I now take note of,
as if old age
is a class without grades,
and one I hope never
to drop out of.
