Reality Adjustment

I laugh at my old friend’s photos

Who have aged and look like shit…

Pretending I’ve escaped their fate,

And haven’t aged a bit.

Yet deep inside, I’m saddened,

All the fat and loss of hair…

Guilty living, without mirrors

Pretending I am not yet there.

Our lives weren’t always easy,

Lost money, jobs, the trust of others…

We fought to be just somebody

Out doing our dads and mothers.

At times there was no justice,

Parents buried some old friends first…

Chiseling away my arrogance;

We survived our youth and worse.

I respect now old friend’s wrinkled fat,

Also each well-earned gray hair…

I celebrate all the current photos;

We’ve so little time to spare.

I’m meeting friends for lunch today,

There’s a great buffet in the mall…

I miss my parents like an orphan,

And became them after all.

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