The Poetry, Essays and Personal Journals of Larry L. Dill
Self-Portrait at Sixty-Five
by Larry L. Dill
I can't get the past out of my mind.
--Ron Dill
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
--Hank Williams
It's not easy to define poetry. Hank Williams used simple language too.
--Bob Dylan
I'm not Bob Dylan
But I'm just as sad.
I wake up every morning
Feeling really bad.
We don't make up characters
And give them lines.
We just say whatever it is
That's on our minds.
I went out to walk the dog today.
He's getting lame now, too.
I don't know what we're gonna do.
I've got to see the judge
About all these debts.
It's too early to tell
But I'm not making any bets.
I went down to the river
To try to put my mind at ease.
But it isn't easy
With a sick heart to please.
I wish I could get back
To where I used to be.
Always calm and quiet,
Never wanting to flee.
I'm working on the plumbing now
For something to do.
The sun is shining brightly
And the sky is blue.
I get a letter from my brother
About every other week.
He's a lot worse off than I am.
But he was always better than me
At playing hide and seek.
His letters are like poetry.
Or at least they're better than this.
He always makes me wonder
What it was I might have missed.
Life is filled with mysteries,
Mistakes and honest crimes,
And poets try to change their fates
With mere irony and rhymes.
May 2009 New Hope Journal
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copyright 2009 by Larry L. Dill