Roll Out By Cold Bulldoser

As the age gap closes and my life merges into where you've gone before

My spurs get worse, my height shrinks

Dowager's hump bends low, focals need review

Ears need tuning and teeth are replaced, not a few

I realise how much I will miss our plebiscite high teas on the government housing balcony

Catching up on the neighbourhood gossip in scandelous whispers

Boastful celebrations of little missions accomplished and heavenly praise for all the "close shaves"

Rehashing the 'Twilight Zone' experiences when situations with strangers got trippy

Like bus drivers that went down a precarious unscheduled route or a church minister whose sermons made one wonder about his sanity

I'll fall melancholy when I reminisce about the simplest things

Games of scrabble; pottering in the garden; "moving deckchairs on the Titanic" kind of redecorating; putting washing away or dishes; reliving the stories indexed in photo albums

Those little requests like changing a clock battery or light globe, or straightenning a curtain or wall hanging

Even discussing the budget seems endearing now

Walks to your favourite nearby store for a window shop or bargain buy

Reminds me--will have to get rid of most of these trinkets

I'm sorry we have to close this chapter on your life

It feels like closing your life

I hope you won't remember too much,

The less the better

I hope you find a new childlike spirit

To replace your corroding mind

It will help you embrace the new scenery

At the "facility"

Why couldn't they just call it a "home"