The Old Folks On Valentine's Day Poem by RIC BASTASA

the gang is back
and they are all here

Grace with her well kept
long hair
and Dante with his broken
iphone

and he keeps on shooting
while the rest are drinking and
eating

and there is Rudy, bald and sickly
but still cracking green jokes with
Tony, who at 70 still keeps the harem
dancing in his sexy crib where he
pours most of his hard earned money.

and there is Elsie, the every loving
wife, who keeps the medical records
of Rudy updated

and here we are
making a kiss for the picture taking
and Dante is posting it
in Facebook and Instagram

and so the gang is here
and i want to call it, The Gang of
Lonely Neighbors
but Dante will not like it.

we are on our 35th year too
keeping all the memories silently
within the decency of marriage
the comfort zone of our
engineered lives, like a manicured
garden, a mellowed wine, a
polished nail, and well combed hair.