Sexagenarian Still Seeking

Sexagenarian Still Seeking

Damn, I am 67 today, frosted in front,
flocked like a dime store pine, yet still
mostly black in back, motivating me to
walk backwards past young women.
Pain and I have found accommodation
in the flaccid biceps of acceptance, and
my Melva and I finally had our honeymoon
after 18 years, spending a wonderful week
in the jungles of Hilo.

Today, officially I have been retired for one year,
and I must say that my life at that juncture
immediately boarded a bullet train
and has catapulted itself through
the calendar at more than 200 m.p.h..

I take a moment to look back and I see
Rylee, our new granddaughter,
a new Fuji digital 14m camera,
completion of dozens of film reviews,
completion of 90 poems,
completion of my submission to a poetry competition,
completion of my daily honey-do chores harmoniously,
a Huscavarna walk behind electric start mower,
the regaining of ten lost pounds, replacement
of shopping bags full of classic VHS tapes
with digitally remastered DVD copies of those movies,
more competence on my iMac after several tutorials,
some free from my kids, some paid for by the hour,
a broken board in my dangerous deck that moved me
to action, enjoyment while watching old movies
on my computer, and the discovery of my own
secret river walk, so that now I am

traveling to the special places I have coveted forever,
not far from home at first, clicking through the checklist
with a love marker, as I begin shooting
that myriad of images that have been cataloged
for so very long in my mind,
more than 4,000 of them so far
since I became an April fool.

Glenn Buttkus

June 14, 2011


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