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Old Timers

Alvin G. Ens

At times more
All times more
Alltimesmore
Altimesmer
Altheimers
Alzheimer’s
So gradually we drift
from much to more to less
Destined
to forget
to fail
to fall
to flail
to forget
An agony of entrenchment
Me, God’s creation
pronounced very good
in decomposition before my time
But why
Me, so much less
than perfect in my prime
stumbling in mid-race
flagging in the last lap
incontinent and impotent
bereft of the dignity of memory
flailing in undirected effort to finish
forgetting the goal before the attainment
Me, hoping for a quick fix
in translation to eternity
In heaven I’ll bargain
for age twenty-five

Alvin G. Ens lives in Abbotsford, B.C.

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Last modified January 14, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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