OF SOMEONE PAST 60
On the whole
he has three moles:
one, a wee bit north-east
from the right eyelashes;
the remaining two
are not readily seen.
Has astigmatism
but doesn’t lead
a double life:
on the contrary,
a very, very, ordinary life.
One look at his hands
will leave you disappointed:
he has only recently given up
nail-biting.
Otherwise has a fetish
for cleanliness and order
and worships Marie Kondo.
Also aware that sometimes
it is better to be dirty and alive
rather than clean and dead.
Enjoys comfortable circumstances
and has always worked towards it.
Nowadays, one hears,
he is living off mutual funds-
not friends – get it right please!
He love affair now is with words
and hence will not answer the question
if he has philandered earlier.
These days he warms up to the likes of
Afterdark and Gridman:
his favourite c-word puzzle setters.
Except for a movie and a family dinner
every Friday, enjoys the comfort of his home:
difficult to seek him out on other days
otherwise than for urgent and unavoidable
household errands,
unless there is something like
a Kiran Nagarkar lecture
or a Pelva Naik concert
to be held nearby.
His bookshelf looks
suspiciously unread:
one title stands out –
How To Talk About Books
Without Reading Them.
Someone told him bluntly
that he is afflicted with
tsundoku.
He has taken this charge
on the chin and
forgives the person
because
“he knows not what he says.”
He proudly proclaims
he is off Metformin
and on a regime
of diet and exercise.
Past sixty,
he is ticking off items
on his bucket list.
Amongst the residual items
two stand out :
to immerse in the works of
e. e. cummings, and,
to publish at least
one slim volume of
memorable verse.
p21 (c) pradeep gopalan