The Lyrics of 96 - Feb. 8, 2022

my friend and classmate Bernard

specializes in aging poems using

the ageless format pyramidal insight

to bind his years together

extend their expiration dates

he makes growing old less accumulating

and heavy more stripped away and

transparent scissoring away the fat in

his history to make montages

that are more delectable to swallow

quite amazing since I imagine myself

25 years later failed back surgery

two hip replacements and a prolific

case of the gout not wanting to write

about sunny mornings birds or rainbows

instead guiding my pen to stab

all my bad luck in the back

when I’m not whining heavy-handed

throughout those long cold

winter nights