ON THE PROSPECT OF RETIREMENT








I am not dead yet; yet I am told


that having passed the 60th milestone


of my life, I am too old


to be of any corporate use; a tombstone


shall be the next signpost


of my existence. I am now obsolete.


After sixty years of usage, my cost


has been depreciated to nil in life’s balance sheet.





I am not dead yet; yet retirement


is like a dress-rehearsal for death,


a premature winter before autumn unspent,


when I still have faculties of mind, of breath,


of feeling heart telling me that I am alive.


Now, I must convert unwanted skills


into irregular income, to survive


the period pains of monthly bills.








Published in WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE & OTHER WRITINGS (2006).