Old Age These Days

These days I certainly see old folks differently.

God or the Universe of Time has put the curse

on me. Frequent trips to the john before I pee

my pants, stiff and aching joints from head to

toe, you know, my balance wobbling out of

control and the constant wondering, where in

hell did that remote for the TV go? A shame-

ful curse, I tell you. Never expected this aging

shit to befall me. A time ago, I worked in a nursing

home, pitied the aged and decrepit incarcerated

there. Thought back then, my foolish ways would

end me before the onset of old age would afflict

and cripple me. Now look at me today...I shake

my fist and wave my cane. I drool and slur my

words befitting the curmudgeonly old fool I have

come to be. There was this elderly lady at that

nursing home where I worked years ago, and

every time I passed her wheelchair in the corridor,

she would stop and ask me, why the Good Lord

just didn’t take her? And, eventually I lost my

religion over that quandary. And now for my

deficiency in faith, I suppose I must pay. For now,

though, I need to find that goddamn remote.

Judge Judy comes on in ten minutes.

                        -30-

Chris Hanch 1-12-2020