MAN AGING
As if things weren't bad enough
We all discover growing old's tough
What else can I say?
We're slowly fading away
Matters that mattered become immaterial
As we realize that everything is ethereal
Dissipating into the past
Nothing will last.
So gather ye roses, that open and wilt
Make rose petal tea, and use skim milk
To strengthen bones without raising cholesterol
Gulp down vitamins, try not to fall
Write down the facts you want to keep in mind
Get rid of cataracts so you won't go blind.
Gather ye roses for rose petal tea
Replace your hip, replace your knee
Replace your replacement, when it develops a glitch
Keep pace with your maker, try not to bitch
For knowing death is on its way
You'd better say thanks
For today
Say thanks, say thanks
You're not quite obsolescent
Say thanks, say thanks
Each day is a present
One more thing to keep in mind
Everything else is also in decline
THINGS AGING
Without our acquiescence
We live with planned obsolescence.
Rather than repair the old
It's cheaper to buy things new
Throw the outdated in the dump
It'll lie right next to you
After we listened to a message,
Our answerer couldn't erase it,
It was too expensive to fix the machine
Impossible to replace it.
So we didn't go digital by choice
We preferred tape cassettes for voice.
VCR tapes fading?
Camcorder needs upgrading.
Toaster oven broken? Start microwaving.
Dial telephone? Not worth saving.
Once there were Victrolas
Then stereos for 33's
Then CD's replaced our LP's
What the hell are DVD's?
IBM's became PC's
Mac's became G3's
And even they run slowly
With insufficient memory
Be-fore I get my g-4
I will have to see more
Speed one gigahertz, drive 80 gigabytes
My spell-check never hearda
Any giga
Giga giggle gaggle straggle
I'll tag along behind
Won't replace my clothes or bike
With each changing design
Nor toss out each appliance
With lemming-like compliance
If we replace possessions
With every change of style
Our legacy becomes
A global garbage pile.
RUM AGING
I don't know if aging rum is good
But I approve of rummaging in the neighborhood.
Buying what I can
Second-hand
Turns rubbish into rummage
It's one small way to fight
Obsolescence planned.
EARTH AGING
We're a tic
On the stick
On the yardstick
Of eternity
The jot, the dot, the spot,
Lulled by modernity
By the mad mode of modernization
By the foul fumes of accumulation
By the warming glow of globalization
The seeping separation of the globe
Into have and have-not
For the tic on the stick
The jot, the dot, the spot,
Consumes with no fear
Causing life to disappear
At least the earth itself will stay
So say thanks, say thanks
For today
Say thanks, say thanks
You're not quite obsolescent
Say thanks, say thanks
Each day is a present
Life may disappear, the earth will stay
Say thanks, say thanks
For today.
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Copyright © 2002 Suzanne Rosenblatt. All rights reserved.
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