Time Eventually Seizes Everything Valuable Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

Joel waited outside
my apartment building
I nodded
he said, “Mailman didn’t come yet.”
“Only eleven-thirty.”
“That’s cause
we don’t got
a regular mailman no more
died
young girl
in the prime of life
brain tumor
can’t get a steady replacement
only substitutes
half of ‘em can’t read
so it takes forever to put the mail in.”
Mary Speranza tottered
out of the building
said proudly, “Today’s my birthday.”
“Maezol Tov, ”
proclaimed Joel
as loudly as a man
with a heart condition dare proclaim.
“How old is the birthday girl? ” I asked.
“How old do I look? ”
“Sixty-three.”
“Uhhh, such a good boy
seventy-eight.”
“Don’t look a day past sixty-five, ” said Joel.
“Uhhh, such good boy, ” said Mary
slowly zigzagging off
to the corner grocery store.
Joel stared at her
finally saying
“After
my first triple by-pass
I prayed to hit forty-nine
fifty-two now
praying to hit fifty-five—
nobody wants to die.”