Life's Ledger

I’ve spent an entire lifetime,

the past seventy-years filed

with seconds, minutes, hours

and days, frittered away and

crossed months off the calendar

learning ways to gather and gain.

Oh yes, indeed there were losses

along the way. I’ve withdrawn

from my account equal to or

surpassing amounts I’ve saved.

Had I been a CPA, I may have

been a bit more mindful of

checks and balances along

the way. But be that as it may,

here I am, non-the-less, teetering

between red and black entries

on my life’s ledger day after day.

I never was good at the numbers

game anyway. I find myself in

league with the “you can’t take

it with you” cliche. Why I’ve

wound up rhyming my lines

with ays today, I can’t rightly say.

In this life, I suppose, no matter

your financial situation, the piper

has got to be paid. In any case,

when you get to be my age (con-

sider yourself rich man or poor),

you couldn’t give a shit, more or

less, anyway.

Chris Hanch 6-2-17