Retirement

E.E. Cummings dashed off a ridiculous little poem once which begins, “the way to hump a cow...” Because that subject has been covered sufficiently, I’ll move on to one that is, I trust, more common to the experience of all people who live long enough: retirement.

HERE’S HOW YOU DO IT!

the way to retire from work is not
to get yourself a chair
but mark some distant spot
and say “that’s where

I want to go and do and think
about things I’ve never done...”
stop with a friend for a drink...
insist on being the one

who can do it
still in spite of pain
or cracks in the cockpit
that let in rain...

don’t be the co-pilot
if it's not what you want...
never mind you’re uncut
for some enterprise tricky

steer any ship you take
in stormy weather or calm...
and when you make a mistake
grin broadly and make up a psalm...

and pretend to forget
why you went that way...
then head for Tibet
or maybe Bombay

spend some time in the sack
don’t lose your desire
and never look back
is how to retire.