Now That We Are Seventy

Poem by Jack Miller and image by Martha Di Giovanni

Now that we are seventy-three,

Concerns there are from which we are free

That have to do with time and space.

What was when and in which place?

A day begins like the one before

With wondering where we put the door

And relief that sleep is the reason,

Not death, that we feel out of season.

Then that sleep means we’re now awake

And once again we may partake

Of our gift, our right, our outright joy

Since birth, ours solely to employ.

Seven plus three is ten and one and zero one.

Time to begin again before we’re done.