FRAGMENTS

I’ve grown old without effort.

Now I can’t hear without aid,

eyes and brain fail to perceive

what were once simple solutions

to complex problems:

(Never mind that they were

usually wrong.)

A brilliant medical lecturer

– with a wry smile – told us as students

that when he was a clinician,

he observed several patients die

“in perfect biochemical balance,”

diminished bowel, bladder, brain in harmony.

The thigh bone is joined to the hip bone

so as one reduces its range of movement

the other follows –

both are workers on an assembly line

adjusting to the other’s pace.

Sitting becomes easier.

(Sitting is bad for your health –

invoking correlation as causation

we argue that those who sit are less healthy,

live fewer years than those who stand.)

“How are you?” they ask.

“Just fine,” you reply – if you heard them –

referring to your balanced numbers,

reaching for your stick (where did you put it?)

as you alight from your chair –

or not.