45

Could it be the halfway point?
Are you past it, or still shy?
In any case, the disappoint-
ment, I know, makes you want to cry.

The number’s always gonna grow
whether you move fast or slow.
Blame it on that apple tree
which bequeathed you your mortality.

Not long ago age forty-five
was considered very old.
To reach it and still be alive
was really something to behold.

The number’s always gonna grow
whether you’re to reap or sow.
Blame it on that deity
which bequeathed you your mortality.

Some consolation, I suppose,
is: Forty-five’s an age no sage
remembers well, or would depose.
Today, it’s merely middle-age.

The number’s always gonna grow
whether you’re to catch or throw.
Blame the abnormality
which caused you your mortality.



Adam Parker
April 2009