New Horizon Poem by Migel Jayasinghe

Compelled to earn a living during my youth
By hard physical labour was not such a bad thing;
When promoted to pen-pushing in early middle-age
Acquired a spare tyre, most unprepossessing!

Now too old, (or lazy) for vigorous exercise,
A walk round the block would more than suffice
To prevent falling prey to everyday disease;
Still, two pills on prescription, I need to take.

Dementia and Alzheimer's are conditions I dread
No history in the family, unless kept very quiet.
Lunch, our main meal, a half-decent spread
Has salad as the compulsory component of my diet.

Drinks in moderation, just a convivial glass
Of wine, spirits, beer, the cigar on occasion.
Cryptic crosswords do stimulate grey cells,
But it's in poetry, that I glimpse a new horizon.