Old Age

It’s nice to die of old age

My mammy had plenty of that

And the good health to go with it

Until the final lap

And as the Irishman said

Thank God she didn’t die of anything serious

Thank God indeed she didn’t

Just the weariness of age

As she breathed that final minute

 

A very healthy woman your mother

My father said one time

All those healthy genes

I hope now they are mine

All that bacon and cabbage

Kerr pinks upon the table

Sent her forth into the world

And by golly she was able

 

My father paid the price for war

And for working in the pit

And the cigarette was in it

To jar his health a bit

71 the years he saw

Mammy 94

I’m somewhere in the middle now

I wouldn’t mind some more.

 

Brian Fahy

29 September 2022