Accepting the Inevitable
Waking in the middle of the night, I used to prop the notepad on my knee To ward off all the agencies of fright, And chunter about immortality, The threat of cancer, living with the bomb. Nowadays, on autopilot, I Simply thread the darknesses of home To the bathroom, have the needed pee, Then soberly return, and kill the light. Where has all my youthful worry gone? I'm nearer still to death, mosquito bite, Car accident, the tumour on the bone, But recently I nearly say, 'So what?' Along with all my neighbours (I presume). Finally tired of wrestling with God, With all the urgencies of singsong rhyme, I just throw up my hands, throw in the towel, And seek the mindless slaughter of oblivion. I do not even hear the preachy owl; I merely wait for the encroaching dawn.
Paul Groves
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