ON TURNING SIXTY-THREE

if i don't wake up dead...
on friday i will be sixty-three
the number doesn't frighten me
i've been telling people i am that age for six months
it seems to deaden the shock for mewhen the day finally arrives

in my halycon, hedonistic days
i celebrated with shots and beers
cigarettes and women
moving from bar to bar
with a payoff of a hangover
and sometimes worse stuff in the morning after
i had myself some fun
but when i think about it, it was a waste of my precious time

today, i don't drink or smoke
i don't chase women
i am grateful for my adult daughter
my beautiful and intelligent wife of 32 years
my health despite emphysema, cancer, and double bypass surgery
i'm glad i can still hear...
although i ask you to annunciate and shout at me directly
otherwise, i'll just smile and nod my head affirmatively
because i won't know what the hell you're saying

i hate when people move faster than me
knock me out of the way to get to doors before me
'cause i move slower now
i think i might faint, if someone younger might offer a seat
or open a door for this old man out of respect
we seemed to do a lot more of that when i was a young man

if i take you out to dinner
promise to converse with me
don't mumble
don't text
i find this to be very rude
i remind myself i shouldn't be bothered by these things
but they bother me anyway
i promise to read less about politics
and to enjoy more sunrises and sunsets
i enjoy watching the finches at my bird feeder
i love watching children and like petting dogs and cats

the gym is my drug today
i love feeling my old body respond
i'm grateful for my health
something i always took for granted
'til i ended up in jail at the age of fifty-three
i had a spiritual awakening that day
gave up booze, drugs and smokes
i met the devil at the crossroads
and made the right turn
i am forever thankful for having a higher power
direct me in the right way

sixty-three sounds good to me
seventy-three doesn't scare me
i seem to enjoy the company of younger people as i age
my contemporaries i enjoy as well
but sometimes they are too crabby
i was going to buy a muscle car this year
but my wife talked me into a 4-door sedan
too many of our friends can't negotiate the back seat of a 2-door
i guess i'll have to buy a 'caddy' convertible
now that's stylin'.