On the whole, you got it, Max.
How privileged some of us are, really. And still writing, occasionally,too….
Doug
On Mar 12, 2015, at 11:30 AM, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Ah retirement! - well said, Bill.
>
> I wrote the piece below even before I retired…since which day, end of 2004, I have lived under four different roofs,
> in very different locations, lost that garden and its firewood, left behind axe and saw, and prefer not cremation but
> burial at Arthurs Creek between Melbourne and the Great Divide, as mentioned a while back.
>
> Max in Seattle
>
> The Retiree in Winter
>
> Off you go, they said,
> have the rest of your life!
> Have. Enjoy. Oh, I’m having it,
>
> in lieu of alternatives,
> and it looks like lasting -
> here for the duration.
>
> Lasting takes time, I find.
> Still, I can spare the time -
> it’s all I’ve got.
>
> My garden’s fallen leaves
> I raked in
> from beneath bare trees.
>
> Each evening now
> I light the fire
> with the rakings.
>
> Like emptied files
> from a closed-down office
> they burn slowly and well
>
> to signal-less smoke
> and inscrutable ash,
> gratifying my nostrils.
>
> Then I burn sections
> I have sawn and split
> from former trees,
>
> slow to grow,
> slow to die,
> slow to burn.
>
> Everything runs down,
> yet with a little help
> garden renews itself.
>
> Finished with work
> I have made my will:
> cremation, of course;
>
> to my son, axe and saw;
> to my daughter, potting mix;
> to my wife, my urn.
>
> What’s left beside,
> tax office and bank
> expect to divide.
>
> Time treated me kindly,
> temperate climate,
> fertile soil, enough rain.
>
> Flowers and fruit,
> wine and meat;
> company better than deserved.
>
> Decent job and pay,
> the pleasures of leisure,
> a roof over my head.
>
> Holiday travel,
> safe return home,
> a warm shared bed.
>
> So far, so good...
> beyond? much to fear;
> but now is a lull.
>
>
>
> On Mar 12, 2015, at 0:29, Patrick McManus <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Or both Andrew? :-)
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Andrew Burke
>> Sent: 12 March 2015 05:36
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Retirement
>>
>> I recognise myself in this, so therefore I like it ... Is that valid criticism or pallid narcissism?
>>
>> Andrew
>>
>> On 12 March 2015 at 09:48, Patrick McManus <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Bill you will soon be oomphing again maybe
>>> oooooooooooophinggggggggggggggggggg!
>>> Cheers P
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> On Behalf Of Bill Wootton
>>> Sent: 11 March 2015 22:17
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Retirement
>>>
>>> Thanks, Doug and Pat. As you both say, a bit comic, a bit sad. Ran out
>>> of oomph this week.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 12 Mar 2015, at 2:42 am, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Ah, to whom it this addressed, eh, Bill?
>>>>
>>>> Starts a bit comic & then?.
>>>>
>>>> Doug
>>>>> On Mar 10, 2015, at 3:29 PM, Bill Wootton
>>>>> <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Retirement
>>>>>
>>>>> He was born for this.
>>>>> Been retiring his whole life.
>>>>> Withdrawing from expectations,
>>>>> impositions.
>>>>>
>>>>> Not averse to company
>>>>> but reluctant to join,
>>>>> to step up.
>>>>> Content to kick back.
>>>>>
>>>>> Opportunities rarely seized,
>>>>> regrets unformed.
>>>>> Days open up just wide
>>>>> enough thank you.
>>>>>
>>>>> But then ...
>>>>> No, there is no
>>>>> but
>>>>> then.
>>>>>
>>>>> bw
>>>>
>>>> Douglas Barbour
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>>
>>>> Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations &
>>>> Continuation
>>> 2 (UofAPress).
>>>> Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
>>>>
>>>> There is no life that does not rise
>>>> melodic from scales of the marvelous.
>>>>
>>>> To which our grief refers.
>>>>
>>>> Robert Duncan.
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Andrew
>> http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
>> 'Undercover of Lightness'
>> http://walleahpress.com.au/recent-publications.html
>> 'Shikibu Shuffle'
>> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/new-from-aboveground-press-shikibu.html
>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuation 2 (UofAPress).
Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
There is no life that does not rise
melodic from scales of the marvelous.
To which our grief refers.
Robert Duncan.
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