John Cotton
Birthday Poem 7th March 1995
On the cemetery side of seventy
(As Larkin might have put it)
Each birthday comes as a bonus
When I wake to the song of a new generation of birds,
Grandchildren overwhelm me with their energy
And life is celebrated in the minutiae of observation.
Preparing to land after a long haul from China
A large lady meticulously picks her teeth
With the aid of a vanity mirror,
While a younger woman paints her lips
With the precise care of an artist.
And me, for the final disembarkation?
To strive not to go ignorant into that dark night.
(As Larkin might have put it)
Each birthday comes as a bonus
When I wake to the song of a new generation of birds,
Grandchildren overwhelm me with their energy
And life is celebrated in the minutiae of observation.
Preparing to land after a long haul from China
A large lady meticulously picks her teeth
With the aid of a vanity mirror,
While a younger woman paints her lips
With the precise care of an artist.
And me, for the final disembarkation?
To strive not to go ignorant into that dark night.
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