Of a Certain Age

Untitled by Fred Brandenburger

this anachronist
sees but the half
of what’s there
clearly hears
even less
short term memory
stages rebellion
fine motor skills
up and abscond
while muscles and
joints give up
constant complaint

an increasingly
alien culture gives
fame to celebrities
one and all strangers
the popular jargon
a babel
the politics
unrecognizable
cutting edge techno
lands dull
on the brain

nonetheless
here is smiling
and nodding
as if
understanding it all

things and people
behavior and motives
in motions and
tracks unfamiliar
the swimming
and swirling
of current events
much too fast
to be grasped

nonetheless
here is smiling
and nodding
as if
understanding it all

while remembering
one wise-ass boy
who discounted
the elderly
now in his dotage
and coming to terms
with what some
would describe
as comeuppance