It's Still Life

Turned Upside Down

We all slide
toward the same end, don’t we.
Like my oldest,
               meaning longest, friend.

Thirty three years I’ve known him.
He was born in a cottage 
near to where Robert Burns was born.

My old friend once said to me,
Routine can kill a person.

This was after I said,
I only do laundry on Mondays.
                   He expected logic. 
I only offered routine.

But he was well stuck into routine.

Same as he always did, he took
his morning walk
to the newsagent, but he
never returned home, his wife said.

His death, from
Iscehmic heart disease,
has left me dying inside.

Truth is, we’re all older than
                  we think we are.

May you always be at peace, Douglas. Written for Miz Quickly‘s final writing prompt of June. Write a poem backwards (start with the last line, and work toward the first). A fun aside is this ditty The World Turned Upside Down – a 17th century English ballad. The image is “Lines in the Austrian Alps” by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash.  Shared with @Experimentsinfc #APoemADay on Twitter   ©Misky 2021