Month: July 2024
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The Old Man
Old man coats And old man pants, Old man ‘shoulds’ And old man ‘cants’. It’s what you see, Not what he was; That’s all you get And that’s because… His clothes are old And nothing fits; His socks appear Each time he sits. His tie is stained His shirt is frayed, They are not ironed,…
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Society is no comfort to one not sociable
I’ve been wondering about loneliness lately; I’ve been wondering if it really constitutes the epidemic it has been termed by various government health agencies -not the least of which by our neighbour, the US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Perhaps I’m being overly pedantic about the idea of it being an ‘epidemic’: an outbreak of a…
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Flutterbys
Perhaps we live our lives in parts, segments that seem distinct only in retrospect. But now that I consist of gnarled limbs and painted, fragile leaves already heavy with the luxury of years, I am allowed think of butterflies as ephemeral markers, unlikely bookmarks in my life. I’m not really sure when this idea took…
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Oh wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here.
There are times when it’s all too much -or perhaps, all too little. Here I am close to the end of my season, and to borrow from Macbeth, ‘My way of life is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf.’ So what is left? What remains of what I wore in the heat of youth?…
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The Can-Counter
I used to see him Balancing On the road’s narrow shoulder As if it were a tightrope Between two worlds. He was old But carefully dressed, And he wandered Along the thin strip of gravel, Like Age Was all the permission he needed To stare into the ditch Beside him. His hair ruffled With every…