by Steven Urquhart Bell

“I was bored, so I came back—nursing at 80”
—BBC

I keep my mind as active as I can:
I play guitar an hour every day;
I read a lot; I write. It’s how I plan
To keep the damn senility at bay.

And if I get to pensionable age,
And none of these precautions have been shirked,
And still I’m keen and want to earn a wage,
Then that’ll prove that none of it has worked.