Well, the sun’s just come up and it’s my birthday
And a chance later, for my so-called friends to say
Happy Birthday you decrepit old so and so
Yes, some of them certainly do sink that low
But then looking back over the long long years
Given my state of health and despite all my fears
Perhaps I’m luckier than most to have lived this long
For these two deaf ears to hear that birthday song
So many others have shuffled off this mortal coil
Passed away, kicked the bucket, gone off the boil
But lucky? Maybe not a word I’d use to describe my state
Bad heart, bad hip, can’t move too well, that’s my fate
And I hate that the mind’s not what it used to be
Though I’m not sure why I should let that bother me
It’s expected isn’t it, that old people do forget stuff
My brain’s full, I reckoned I’ve remembered enough
I actually can’t quite recall what happened last week
But they tell me that some part of me sprang a leak
I think it may have been a vein in my arm
They fixed it, it didn’t do too much harm.
Of course that’s not all that’s happened to me
It’s quite an extensive list, a whole long litany
But who wants to hear an old man whinge
It goes and on, it’ll just make you cringe
I never wanted to be someone who’d moan
To everyone around me, who’d simply just groan
Sadly, afflictions and ailments are what we all share
But don’t tell me about yours, I really don’t care
I’ve got enough of my own, thanks all the same
Talk about something else, like last night’s game
I expect they’ll get me a cake and one big candle
Blowing out a heap would be more than I can handle
I hope it’s caramel, that’s what I really like the best
Though I suppose that I should have put in a request
I don’t expect to get a visit from my one and only son
He found me this home, and when it’s all said and done
He did his duty, he’s done his bit,
I can’t complain, because here I sit
In my comfortable room, a room with a view
There aren’t too many of them, just a few
And I can see the sun as it rises in the morning
As the poets say, watching a new day dawning
Well, they’ve been and brought me some tea
And now wheeled me out for everyone to see
Mike’s at the piano, playing the birthday song
All the other geriatrics are all singing along
I smile with thanks and gratitude
And don’t give anyone any attitude
It’s my special day and I’m happy to be above ground
Until I slide to the floor without even making a sound
And the last words I’ll ever hear as I slowly fade away?
“Oh my god, the old bugger’s carked it on his birthday!”
©️Cesmo
Yes, it is Cesmo’s birthday today