RAISING THE TITANIC
with gratitude to Dr. Joe
Remember when we were old
and used to spend all of our gold
on lotions and potions and medics galore
and every new fad at the health food store
Tar for the seams of a sinking ship
thinking we were near the end of the trip
But if time
is but a wrinkle in thought
just think of all that we’ve got
THE ALBUMS
Mother’s shrinkage was marked by domicile
House, apartment, retirement and nursing home
shedding at each move, furniture, china, and art
except for, and never, the old photo albums
heavy in padded leather brown and green
Each visit when conversation stuttered to a stall
(Religion all but Baptist drowned
and what use is weather without crops)
out would come the albums
and in we all would dive
for pennies
bright and shiny at the bottom of the pool
Here’s one from 1958
how young the queen looked then
LEONARD COHEN AT EIGHTY
There is a crack in everything
that’s how the light gets in
Anthem
Growing old does not dim
the magic that you hold
for you were always old
That women want
to sleep with their fathers
Freud would not consider odd
(though nuns may call it God)
but no matter how many cracks
you or the light might see
growing old is still
not all it’s cracked up to be
so you’ve fought
depression all your life
and perhaps you always will
but for mere boys who must compete
it’s more depressing still
MORE GLORY TO YOU
There is something
about a rotting church
in a by-passed prairie town
Pride become humility
spirit shining through the bones
PATRICIA AT NINETY
Patricia Fiske
has just passed ninety
on the way to a hundred with her foot still on the gas
sometimes
with a little help
from some premium ninety octane in a glass
let’s all raise one to her today
AGING GRACEFULLY
We have decided that
we aren’t oldsheimery at all
but absent minded professors
far too caught up on Newtonian
and Russelian physics,
and epigenetic
and brain scan implications in
the present presidential race
to remember to put
the butter back in the fridge
TASTE
The taste buds
of the young we are told
are more sensitive
than those of the old
While there is still pleasure
in a snowflake on the tongue
it is more difficult to tell of late
if they have six feet or eight
FOR VICTOR
The only trick an old dog can learn
is how to be an old dog
The minimum of turns one has to take
before lying down for that nap
That a bark is as good as a chase
for keeping squirrels off the deck
And that after all these years
of standing up for your standing friends
you’ve likely earned their kneeling by you now
ZEN AGAIN
Before enlightenment
chop wood haul water
After enlightenment
the body still grows old
More water must be hauled
– hydration is important
More wood will be needed
the cold wants to be your lover
worm its way
into your
ever more porous bones
Write about it
as fast as you can
before your stories fall into the holes
PLAYING OLD 78s AT THE NURSING HOME
Aunt Myrtle
skips a groove from time to time
The needle, still diamond sharp
plays 1952 for a round or two
Then the niceness of the people here
grandpa’s bad temper, and the size
of the long kitchen at the farm
The sweetness of her husband
sometimes here and sometimes gone
and where is he now?
Reminded that he died some years ago
with quick humor still intact, replies
That would explain why he never comes to visit