To R.L.
Though our bodies know the physics
Gravity still gets its licks in.
Perhaps it is the ground’s quick greeting.
Falls come once, then more, repeating
Meat’s longing to embrace the earth.
If lucky, just embarrassed mirth,
Amused at our own comical fall
But sometimes there’s an ambulance call,
Lovely pain drugs, but still not worth
Our blood and bruises, the adverse
Souvenirs of these flopping dives.
Relentlessly, old age contrives
To remind us all increasingly
And eventually, unceasingly
That we’re propped up on shaky bones
And nature’s calling in its loans.
Elizabeth Hurst
If you have any thoughts about this poem, Elizabeth Hurst
would like to hear them
