There comes a time

There comes a time

When nothing ever fits

Old truths are proved to be false

The well of good things runs dry

With a time limit on obsolescence

Fascists call for euthanasia

Voluntary redundancy

Is not an effective contraceptive

The world looks bigger to babies

It shrinks in old age

As movement is restricted

To hemorrhoidal bath chairs.

Nobody likes incontinence

In grown-ups

Nursing homes are too warm

With a smell unlike

The sweet scent of a Kindergarten

Bodies are made-to-measure suits

That ride up with wear

Wrinkling around the elbows

Hanging off the shoulder.

Excess skin

Sags beneath chinny chin chins

Lifelines and gravity

Drags down the edges

Pulling sad clown frowns

Smiles fight for the right

To light up sallow faces

Curiosity becomes

A back seat driver

An opinion

With no sense of direction

Pragmatism is a pee

Before bedtime

If not to be during

Cynicism holds sway

Over yesterday’s

Old world charm

Parkinson's arms

Refuse to swing in time

To dancing feet

Perhaps they never did

But memories are fashioned

In ways that please

Until they slip out of reach

Behind the sofa

Down the sides of an overstuffed armchair

Gathered in hairballs

Under the bed

Locked up in a steel box

Built to last

Longer than it takes to

Unpick the lock

Of the night safe at Fort Knox

Where they keep

All the odd socks

And broken umbrellas.