This is a poem from my new poetry book to be released Oct 4, 2024 on Amazon.com.

The collection of poems is dedicated to my dear friend and colleague poet Robert Bly. Robert encouraged me to write and even lent his talent and edited about a third of the poems presented here. I will always be indebted to him for his kindness and generosity.

I THOUGHT GETTING OLD WOULD TAKE LONGER is kind of a zany title, and even though I’m known for my humor in my talks and lectures, there are only hints and splashes of levity between the covers. The majority of this collection focuses on love found and lost, things and people that came and went, and the way nature can educate and inform the aging process itself.

I hope you will find these heartfelt poems touching at best or thoughtful at the very least while peeking into my journey into elderhood. 

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE

I’m closing the Feeling Factory. I have fired all my old employees.

Sadness my senior manager had been with me for decades.

Loneliness was just plain lazy and was always late for work, and I could never trust him.

Anger tried to unionize the other workers several years ago; no love lost there.

Disappointment the delivery guy would sit in the company van and smoke a joint every day at

lunch and when he was done, he just acted weird.

Joy was my most recent hire before closing, but she almost never showed up or was always running late.

She stayed out all night dancing.

Happiness was hired over two years ago but he was just too mercurial.

I guess he figured what was the point?

So, you still can get some good bargains on the feeling books we produced here at the Feeling Factory.

But hurry all the doors are closing soon.

And yes, I’ve been offered a job at UPS as a delivery man because they saw I still had

pretty good-looking legs for their brown shorts, even at my age.