Jan 2020
WE ALL ARE HERE FOR A SHORT WHILE
We all are here for a short while.
We spend roughly the first 20 years
growing up. Then we spend the next
40 years or so living basically the core
of our adult life: marriage, kids, family,
career. The last 20, 30 years we go
fishing, read a lot of books, maybe
play poker Thursday nights. Then we
die: cancer, heart attack, dementia,
whatever.
Life is a lot like grocery shopping, finding
a place to park, getting a shopping cart
whose wheels work, going up and down
the aisles, hoping to find the things we
want, getting in a long line to check out,
hoping we brought the coupons so we could
save a little money. If we’re lucky, we get
a high-school boy to help carry our sacks
out to the car.
We all are here for a short while.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
We all are here for a short while.
We spend roughly the first 20 years
growing up. Then we spend the next
40 years or so living basically the core
of our adult life: marriage, kids, family,
career. The last 20, 30 years we go
fishing, read a lot of books, maybe
play poker Thursday nights. Then we
die: cancer, heart attack, dementia,
whatever.
Life is a lot like grocery shopping, finding
a place to park, getting a shopping cart
whose wheels work, going up and down
the aisles, hoping to find the things we
want, getting in a long line to check out,
hoping we brought the coupons so we could
save a little money. If we’re lucky, we get
a high-school boy to help carry our sacks
out to the car.
We all are here for a short while.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
A graduate of Andover and Columbia College, Columbia University, Tod Howard Hawks has been a poet and human-rights advocate his entire adult life. He recently finished his first novel, A CHILD FOR AMARANTH.
