You're Eighty????

We stop in at the lab to have my thyroid checked

on the way to the gym this morning.

The girl at the desk,

after getting my birth date,

looks up at me and exclaims:

“You’re eighty years old?”

“Yip.”

It took me a minute because

it’s hard for me to comprehend too.

“I cannot believe it.

You do not look eighty.

Not at all.

I am so surprised.”

“And we’re on our way to the gym to swim.”

Then the other clerk stared.

I’ve waited six months for someone to say that to me.

Of course,

when we get to the gym

and I try to get out of the car,

I feel eighty!

Very eighty.

Epilogue:

Hi Jeanette

You do many things that keep you young.

Here are two on the tip of my tongue.

You do yoga and go to the gym,

Both of which help you stay spry and slim.

ld

Hi DeLoy

I do many things that keep me young;

To say I’m slim is a bit far-flung.

You’re a fine poet, not a dingbat;

Could you find a word that rhymes with fat?
lj