Being Wise Thirty-Eight

        Cover of Fatality at Angelika's Eatery photo by

                                        Jerry Markatos

Being Wise Thirty-Eight October 24, 2021

For Jerry

Talking to an old friend, I

wanted him to know everything,

not all of it good news. I have

a brain disease, and I’m more

forgetful. The medicine helps.

I can correct my errors most

of the time. He’s worried about

how we see China, and I, how

we see Russia. I publish books

about my dear Russian friends,

and write letters. He researches

China. I speak of my Russian

friend who tells me he loves me.

I’m sorting books, which ones

to keep and which to let go of.

I tell him we still have a few

tomatoes, and he says they’ve

picked the last.  Now they’re

eating persimmons. My world

grows smaller. I’ve accepted

that I’ll die, probably before

I make ninety, but I’m not

worried about it. Even eighty-four’s

not bad. So many things are going

wrong in our world, and we

Americans are partly to blame.

We do have visionaries, and Jerry

and I are two of them. The goal

is that you do your best

and then you rest.