I Hear News
 

I hear news about family members failing--
Their hearts and intestines clogging and slowing down,
Their heads losing the rich content of recent and olden times,
Their hands, knees, and elbows in decline.

My response--
Thank you for the great affirmation of universal and cosmic entropy.
Thank you for the consolation of knowing that we are all in the same boat,
That as my hip bones deteriorate, my cousins' arteries clog,
And my young nephew begins a troublesome cough.

It is no comfort to grow old.
The wag is right on target:
If growing old did not lead to death, it would be perfect.
If it did not lead to gasping and to
The steel and metal coughing into
The medical assistant's pewter cup--
It would be wonderful.

But do not despair--
Let us remember, instead, the sunrises and sunsets,
The bright noons, the dusks and twilights, the moons,
The cormorants flexing in the sun in the cypress tree,
The egrets luxuriating in their rookery,
Preening, imposing their claim
Of imperial and primeval ownership over all their domain--
The sparrows chirping to weld my time's moments together, and
The mockingbird singing out the code of life.

Do not despair.

______________________
December 9, 2004
James Bolner, Sr. 
©2004 James Bolner, Sr.