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I Mean You
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 00:38 |
#119
"that old man"
for penny
robert lowell said,
"living without you
is like learning to walk"
but twice now i've had
to learn to walk, & living
without you in my life
is a much harder proposition,
more difficult indeed
than simply growing old alone,
but how old
can a man get
who has already lived twice
as long as he ever in-
tended, every day
is a whole new thing
never before contemplated
or even imagined
but a gift
from the gods
who administer our sentences
with their twisted sense of humor
& when the beatles
asked the question
so long ago, will you still
need me, will you
still feed me
when i'm sixty-four?
the answer
is not at all the one
i had expected, of course,
but i'll keep on living
as long as i can
& make the most of it
as best as i am able, a-
wash in the love of my daughters
& my incredible granddaughter
& my treasured friends
& countless co-conspirators
wherever i go--
that old man,
still alive & kicking
with both feet
--amsterdam
september 28/
october 2, 2005
3.1.663 |
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