Don't get old

“Don’t get old.”

she says

I’m doing what I can

Been knuckled-down to it for years

Sweating in this cuarto:

Ambition’s last redoubt

I did my duty, as urged

Followed the dream

Nay, dragged its dead-weight

through every stinking bog

And now it’s time to lay

that sodden hawser on my shoulder once again

“Don’t get old.”

What else am I to do?

Old Guilt’s a clever fellow

Had us all subscribed before we started

One last look back

Seal the bitter fold of good intentions

Send it on its way

Take up the slack