On the last two days of being forty
and thus only slightly past the point of no return
I shall eat chocolate cookies
as if that wasn’t really bad for me
and treat my muscles
like the muscles of a twenty year old
I shall write stories
and poetry
and probably something related to my paying job
and then almost touch my toes
because I can still do that
I shall not mention the kids these days
because I am one of the kids these days
yes I am
you can’t say I’m not
now watch me get off your lawn
I shall read hundreds of books
and save hundreds of whales
and commune with hundreds of dolphins
and then I shall stand in the rain
and feel profound things about the universe
Once I turn forty-one
I’ll probably be quite tired
and will spend the next year
watching Netflix or something