Then the moderate tinnitus.
Then the cataracts.
Then the nocturnal crural pruritus.
Then the doctor insisted that I take tablets
to reduce my blood-pressure.
These conflicted with the aspirin
I take to thin my blood...
If you're lucky, age is merely
the gradual accumulation of minor ailments
and the tendency of things to sag.
But there has to be a point where I say
"Enough is enough", and reach for
the handy somnifers
and the sturdy plastic bag.
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| click to enlarge |
4 comments:
I hope this isn't your online suicide note, Anthony!
Oh no, Karl: "It's being so cheerful that keeps me going."
[This is a WW2 catch-phrase from, I think, the popular radio show ITMA (It's That Man Again).]
But the day will come, probably sooner rather than later...
My quarterly- to-your-site visit has been enhanced this time by discovering your poetry, especially the magnificent Zen poems. I haven't read the Diogenes piece, but wasn't he a Stoic of sorts? So what gives (or takes) in this poem? Not irony, and never humor in your case! I practiced Zen for ten years and am now a Bon Buddhist. Remember old age is one of the four "sufferings" that is this human life. To read your phenomenological narrative on masturbation with all the incredible body experiences you are still experiencing I would say you have little reason to complain. That aside--high blood pressure is serious business. Take wisdom where it presents itself, even in modern medicine. I'll be commenting on the rest of these poems as time permits. There is such intelligence and life in them. Marcus Billson, California, billsoniii@aol.com
An Anonymous commenator (first name Marcus) wrote:
"My quarterly- to-your-site visit has been enhanced this time by discovering your poetry, especially the magnificent Zen poems. (www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/zen.htm)
So what gives (or takes) in this poem? Not irony, and never humor in your case! I practiced Zen for ten years and am now a Bon Buddhist. Remember old age is one of the four "sufferings" that is this human life. To read your phenomenological narrative on masturbation with all the incredible body experiences you are still experiencing I would say you have little reason to complain. That aside--high blood pressure is serious business. Take wisdom where it presents itself, even in modern medicine. I'll be commenting on the rest of these poems as time permits. There is such intelligence and life in them."
I had intended this poem to be humorous. Maybe my humour is too "black" ? My life has gotten much better in recent years, partly due to Duloxetine, and partly due to living half the time in France.
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