The Riptide.

The Riptide.

I can be forgiven

For trying to stay young

Without surgery

Uplifts, nips or tucks

Of course.

Just doing the same things

I have always done

Bouncing like a jumping bean

On a rubber boat for hours

At a time

Swimming in a wet suit

Without flippers

Struggling with the current

Getting nowhere fast

Wet suits get harder to get in and out of

Without help

My body temperature crashes

In the open sea

More quickly than it once did

The chitter-chatter of a loose jaw

Uncontrollable

As comedic as a looney-tune

But not for me

My teeth are not a keyboard.

Floating over the coral

Watching parrot fish

And grupa

Made it all worthwhile.

Waking up the next morning

After a full night

Of unconsciousness

With sore calves

Feeling like a one-hundred

Year old man

In need of a window to climb

Out of

Believing maybe I had

Which led me to think

On a rubber speedboat

For the last time.

Rest easy on a chaise lounge

Sip a Manhattan

Whilst reading the Times

Do the crossword

Be a bore

Share my lost youth

With the other turkeys

Stroking their gizzards

Over a game of canasta

And a plate of hobnobs

Until very gingerly,

Granddaughter

Limped into the room

Complaining about her sore calves

And suddenly I felt young

At heart again.