Mirror - Life

Yesterday
old David
ran his fingers
through his long gray beard
and died.

He said--
all I ever did was survive.
The day before that
he was feeding
french fries to the gulls

and said

he was feeling fine.
Ten years before that
he went on a 3 month
camping trip
and when he came back
he talked less.

The day before he left
he buried Helen.
Four days before that
she said
she regretted nothing.
Eight years before that
he closed down the office supply store
and retired.
Forty years before that
he opened up an art gallery.
They planned to make enough
to retire some place exotic
with beaches and palm
sand eternal sun.

Two months before that
he married Helen.
The year before that
he was on his way
to bum around the world.
He could not sleep nights
listening to the calliope
of stars.
The day before that
he graduated
with a degree in law
and told his father
he would never practice.

Fifteen years earlier
he told his grandfather
he was going to be
a mountain climber
when he grew up.

Three years before that
he said he would never
grow up.
The day before that
his mother told him
the truth
about Santa Claus
and the Easter Bunny.

Four years before that
his aunt Bessie
cast his horoscope
and said
he would be a success
in life,
marry three times,
become a famous painter
and die rich
in a foreign land.
The day before that
Dr. Anderson
pulled him from the womb,
slapped him on the ass

and he screamed.