photo_camera by Greg Ortega
In five years you will be fifty-four years old
In ten years the same
In fifteen, in twenty, no change
No addition or subtraction
The math for this is incontrovertible
I can show you my work if you wish
The twelve tear stains on a white
Pillow
The sorry state of my finances
Apartment
After three weeks of neglect
The square rosewood box
Containing the remainder
The one hundred bottles of
Beer in the trash
I do the sums every day
And the result is always the same
54, when I am wasting away
And that, dear friends
Just doesn’t add up
At all…