mishmash of things

this one
has a life. she's normal.

I confess i'm less
normal, I have my faults,
more cracks and fissures
than
the san andreas fault.

i'm a work
in progress, a beginner
at the end
of life.
or at least the autumn
of life.
that sounds so much
better than the twilight
years, or the golden
years.
or straddling the grave.

I heard a joke the other day,
a Rodney
Dangerfield joke.
he said, I tell you, i'm old,
i'm so old.
in fact, the other day

I was walking by the cemetery
and two guys started chasing
me with shovels.

(he pulls on his red tie
at this point and his eyes bug out)

no respect.

but back to the topic at hand.
she's normal.
this one.
this girl, this woman.
she has a life,
she's responsible. is truthful
honest,
forthright.
she's fun and smart.
she's gentle and kind.
sensitive
and true. she's beautiful
without even
trying.
morning, noon and night.

I've been sifting, panning
for gold at the edge
of a cold stream for years,
biting into the soft pebbles
of fool's gold,
and here this
gem, this amazing heart of gold
sits beside me.