Am I waiting

Am I waiting

Counting down the days

An inner calendar

Dates scratched off

One is always circled

Which one

Surely not a Birthday

What is to come

Worth remembering

When the dog doesn’t care

Even as he limps alongside

Joints screaming

Arthritic gate

Twisting his body

Lower front leg at thirty degrees

But still keen to walk

The morning through

Still answering the call

Tired old tail

Always wagging

Who wags the dog

When he is me

And I am struck

With his Distemper

One day seems

Like any other

Endless summer days

Smoke filled heat haze

Are they rationed

How many sleeps

Before the fall

Am I coming to an end

Is there a reckoning

Am I really expecting

Something after all

I wonder if it will be

Worth the wait