The shabby man ages

(to be read in a single breath.)

by John MacBeath Watkins

His jowls sag, his belly swells
his dreams are crushed beneath the years
and yet he faces every day
and doesn't let his mind dwell
on slipping hopes and growing fears
and failing eyes and still I  say
his courage holds up very well
to walk among his desperate peers
and face his fate down on the way.

Comments

  1. oh, dear, is this autobiographical?

    lets have lunch.

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  2. Happily, no, it's a portrait of a man I saw on the street and an excerpt from The Book of Forbidden Words, which I thought you had read. You can find it easily enough on Scribd, or you can get a shorter version if you Google A Fish Who Worships Fire.

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