Morning Mantra
Reprinted with permission of author

Morning means re-ordering aches and grimaces.
Mostly it's swivel parts and knees.
four fingers of right hand hold my body


hostage. Pain streaks through them to neck
and the twitch in shoulder starts a dance.
Mind says get up, get up. Six o'clock,


day's waiting. But body: "Hey, I need
a jump start, a brand new heart. A pig's foot
and a bottle of beer or two." Unh unh, naw,


maybe an aspirin or so will have to do.
When I finish smiling at the silliness
in my life, false starts, fizzled ends,


I stretch to see if back cooperates,
massage where it joins the rest of me,
oooomm my morning mantra: Get your bottom up now,


get your bottom up, now. Despite the creak
of dry bones dry bones that know nothing
of gentilesse, I do.