With Great Dignity [rev.] Poem by Margaret Alice Second

Making Trinchado, meat stewed in a sauce
of Worcestershire sauce, Balsamic vinegar,
red wine and brandy, but my meat dish kept
separately - these ingredients would wreak
havoc with my system, yet

Like a wide-eyed child I shadow my beloved
as he prepares this exotic dish, excited by the
strangeness - quite resigned that I can't eat it,
I wrote down the recipe as he read it from the
Internet, the Prelude to La Traviata

Playing on the radio - fitting for people like me
remaining outside normal events - at least I'm
good at ageing, tried singing in deep contralto,
though not exactly right - but life seems more
liveable as we grow as old as a pair

Of weathered crocodiles, I shall pour myself a
glass of whisky & soda, celebrate my seniority
and hope I remember not to run when leaving
the office building in the evening - but to walk
stately - with great dignity - instead…

[10 August 2014]

[11 August 2014 - upon reflection, I prefer to
leave at a run, waving and singing whatever song
comes into my head, I shall not strive for
dignity as yet...]