Shelter in Place, Old Man - poem

Lawrence Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

Shelter in Place, Old Man

 

And now my duties are forbidden me
Even the volunteer programs have shut down
And I am left as a Finzi-Contini
At play in a garden, awaiting the worm

They tell me I’m too old, that I must stay home

(They didn’t tell me that in ’67)
Yevtushenko says that as we get older
We get honester. But that’s not enough

 

I wish I could sign on again, one last patrol -

But now all duties are forbidden me