Old Father
the aroma of old people pepper air with putrid
perspiration tainting, we sit once again on settees
loosely puckered by pummelled
time like skin hung brittly on bones,
limbs locked on rusted pulleys
prising on old hinges heaving heavy levers.
rites are routinely enacted with drinks
placed on beer mats
old stories retold like fisherman tales
spun from seaward treks Past photographs framed
gallery the white walls of graduations and weddings
Each portrait embossed edged with vellum
a masterpiece of genes some forty five years ago
but present now in the fire sharing their warmth
who else could share the embers beyond years.
You prod the coal fire
like grey ashen coals, relics spring scarlet
as the clock ticks, seeking the best ways
over life's sharpened, rocky paths that would
wound, scarring shins rasping breath as a summit
was viewed clouded
A contest on aging
Emile Pinet
1 June 2019
Copyright © Brian Duffield | Year Posted 2019
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