mabel_____

"An Old Man Checked Me Out While I Was Running Yesterday"

I am eighty years old.
my eyes
are two great folds,
my hands shake,
my skin is pruned,
my legs ache
shuffle and limp,
as do my bowels
despite my steady diet
of Musellix.

and my penis is a shrivelled spout
on the face of my hips.

my nose drips.
my eyes water.

and this shuffling bag
who rests on my arm--
with too much rouge
and thinning hair--
was once the belle of the ball.
we had a steamy affair.

I remember being twenty-three:
the testosterone!
the mobility!
a different dame every night,
I tore up the town,
I got into fights.

Now I go to bed at eight o'clock
and wake up at seven.
Wednesday
I play cards with Ned
(Mick & Pat &
Ernie are dead)
Saturday the nurse
sneaks me a whiskey:
the pinnacle of my week.
and then I go back to sleep.

to dream of sex,
and solid food