Our locals fall into two categories,
We’ve discovered,
As old age creeps up their canes.
Those who dine and cook,
And skip and laugh
And drink and sing
And pick wild flowers
And play backgammon
And listen to the radio
And go to the cinema
And breach each occasion as if it were behind
Auditorium double doors.

And then there’s those
Who refuse to buy new shoes
Because in their eyes
And I quote
“I’ll expire soon.”

But that’s comforting.
Each to their own.
The cheetahs and the snails.