day THIRTEEN HUNDRED and FIFTY FOUR

Senescence 

we have lost
our soft hearts
and hard reason

all good things
are gutted
while we laugh
and blame
every victim

our history is now
re-written each day
with poor spelling
and bad grammar

we hardly notice
the killing lies

because it is
so pleasant
to hate what we
do not understand

and understanding
has become a burden
too great to bear

this was the plan
of course

always the plan

it has been expected
for many years

everything in this world
grows older and finally
loses its way

we are no different

our hard hearts starve
our decrepit brains

almost no one
is left to care for us
and we would
hate them for it anyway

the ugly finish
is our shattered reward
and its moment is at hand

--Jeff Weddle