Me and it

It will not go away
this overhanging belly.
It has become a geographical feature.
As I stand here in the shower
I cannot see beyond it. 
Mountain climbers could be stranded
down there, clinging to a ledge,
rare seabirds making their nests,
a ship run aground on sandbanks.
It is the philosophical dillemma
of middle age.
A monument to years
of dulling the pain. 
All my wisdom is contained in it.
My best jokes.
We are inseparable now.
Me and it.

				Clapham, 1995


	John Rule, 2004
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