Not Alone

I know I am
Not the only one
Forced to take a
Vacation day
Off from work
Just in order
To be able to
Catch up on
Regular house chores
That I have long neglected
(I am famous for
My penchant for
Procrastination;
It’s kind of a gift)

But this time
I was really behind
The eight ball

My front lawn
Had started to resemble
Jurassic Park
So overgrown were
The weeds and crab grass

My irises had already bloomed
(And they were magnificent!)
But by now their stems were
Broken and their flowers
Were all withered

I have a rogue
Boysenberry tree
(If there is such a thing)
And the berries are
All over the place
Being crushed by
Passersby and attracting
All sorts of crushed berry loving
Insects

The apple tree
In front of my front door
(Bad idea to plant trees
Right in front of your front door)
Now reaches
The roof of the house
(To the delight of a whole
Family of squirrels who
Get to take a first bite out
Of every apple before leaving
The now spoiled fruit to rot
On the ground)

Everything needed
Trimming and cutting back
And I was the only one who
Could do it
(I once hired help and they
Proceeded to hack my prized
Plants to pieces)

It took me the better
Part of the day to
Get most of the chores done
By that time
I was spent

I haven’t done that much
Hard physical work
Since the last time I had
To do hard physical work
And that was quite some time ago

When I was done
I surveyed my handiwork
With some sense
Of rudimentary satisfaction

At least the plot looked like
Someone had taken the time
To tidy things up a bit
So the old Markowitz place
Was not an abandoned
Lot after all
The old coot
(That would be me)
Must still be living there

I put my garden tools away
And I hauled my aching body
Upstairs for a nice hot shower
I took some Advil
(Along with a fist full
Of other prescribed medications
That I must now
Ingest on a daily basis)

I watched some TV
And then turned in
For an early night
(I still had to get up early
Next day to finish out
My real job work week)
Another twenty four weeks
Or so of this routine
And I will be officially retired
From the US labor force

Just the other day
I officially filed
(Via the internet)
For my Social Security benefits
The Boomer generation
Has had its day in the sun

I have very mixed feelings
About this whole
Retirement business
I have managed put the
Day of reckoning off
For as long as I could

Like the late great comedian
Woody Allen once said
(I know he ain’t dead yet!)
“It’s not that I am afraid of dying
It’s just that I don’t want to be there
When it happens”

One way or another
I know that retirement and death
(Though not necessarily
In that order)
Will one day catch up with me

But like Woody Allen
I’d just rather not be there
When they do

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2012