I Ain't Dead Yet

Yeah Mon
Reports of my recent demise
Are only slightly exaggerated

It would appear
That a recent poem of mine
Like A Candle In The Wind
Caused some concern
Among my circle of friends
That perhaps
The grim reaper
Was soon to make
An appearance
At my front door
Come to collect
His rightful due

Well thank you all
For your messages of
Condolences and concern
They are all
Greatly appreciated

Truth be told mon
I ain’t dead yet
And I do not expect
To kick the bucket
Any time soon
(But just as the
Wise man/woman
Once said
No one really knows
The hour or the day)

The recent poem
That caused all the fuss
Was prompted by the fact
That in the past year alone
I have experienced the loss
Of three close colleagues
(All three younger than age 60
Needless to say
I was greatly disturbed and
Distressed)

Not to sound
Overly dramatic
But in the wild
The old, old elephants
Do seem to know
When their time is coming
And they head off
To the old elephant bone yard
Where all the old elephants
Go to die
Like an old elephant
I am really feeling my age, chum.
Planned obsolescence
I think they call it

Funny, but reaching
The 65 year old milestone
Feels like hitting a wall
While going 100 mph
Not to mention
As a diabetic
How much
Having diabetes takes away
On a daily basis.
My hat is off to
All of you
(And you all know who you are)
Who have been
Battling the Big D
For years
Some since childhood
It has not been easy
And you all have the battle scars
To prove it

Like the poem says
I feel it in my bones mon
My family’s peasant genetics
Do not bode well
For my long term
Longevity prospects
In general my family
Is not long lived
Although there have been
A few exceptions

By nature
I am a quitter not a fighter
I am like a punch drunk old pugilist
Who is too dumb
To have enough sense
To just stay down
For the count
But who is unable
To land much of a punch
Through the fog of war
Even if I could see
Who is in the ring with me
(Hey, punchy
Throw in the towel why don't cha?)

Again I did not mean
To unnecessarily
Alarm and Frighten
Any of my friends
I just feel the need
(A very strong need)
To put my own house in order

I feel a
Very strong need
To get a lot of
Loose ends tied up
Without thinking that
I have the luxury of
Endless amounts of time
To procrastinate
(As is my usual way)

For instance
I have been trying
(Forever it seems)
To make prearrangement
Funeral plans
So that my final exit
Is orderly
And not chaotic
(As has been the normative
Life pattern
For most of my life)

I am obsessed
With having all of my
Funeral arrangement plans
In order
Prior to my demise
For a whole host of reasons
Too numerous
(And also too boring
And too mundane
To discuss in a short piece
Such as this)

Suffice it to say
It is a conundrum
That has been defeating me
(Despite all of my best efforts)
For a long, long time

Hopefully I will have
Finally
Figured it all out
Before the grim reaper
Really does come a knockin’
At my front door

(As always
I am open to all
Of your suggestions and
Advice)

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2012