Skin

It has all the strength and elasticity
of a Japanese lantern.
I'm afraid it may not be able
to contain my muscles
much longer, my skin,
like a braut busting open on the grill.
I should stop working out.
Why press my luck?
My father and uncle warned of this
thirty years ago,
bleeding from a scratch,
bruising at a bump,
to say nothing of appearance.
I gave their complaints a shrug,
my IOU now come due.
Yeah, Mick, what a drag,
and Keith Richards,
unless mummified
by cigarettes and booze, knows.
I should start smoking again.
I have the booze down.
What would it matter?


(SKJ, 07/2010)