Abdul Malik Mandani Poet Free verse

For Better Or Worse

We mostly eat in silence,
After 50 years together
there’s really nothing
much left to say –
We disagree on
everything any way!

I look across from our rickety table
into her tired, forlorn eyes
and see years of struggle, hurt
resentment and complaints.
I look around our
rented, crummy apartment
full of worn-out books,
magazines, newspaper clippings,
paid bills and handout furniture –
Really not much to show
for a lifetime of harvesting!

We, the two of us
who are mostly good,
Who raised good kids,
Who dotted all the i’s
Who crossed all the t’s,

Who paid their taxes
and their bills on time,
Who prayed diligently,
Who toed the line
every step of the way,
Working side by side
day in and day out –
Yet, no spoils good enough
to bring home to.

With kids all grown up
and long gone
and the sun finally set,
Oh, how I wonder...
what will the night be like?

We both get up at the same time
plates in our hands–
Don’t eat much these days, you know;

Now, time and old age 
hover around us like 
the beleaguered butler 
with a frayed towel over his arm!


~04/30/23
~Contest: Empty Nest
~Sponsor: Cooper Etheridge

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