I am persistently cautious.
Safety first.
I am seventy and still alive.
This morning, for instance,
I put both feet on the floor
upon rising from bed.
I slipped into my fire-retardant robe,
sipped my coffee with attention to heat.
played safe with choking hazards,
removing a jagged shell fragment from my breakfast egg,
chewing thoroughly before swallowing crisp bacon.
I have been observing these practices for years,
I am seventy and still alive.
I brushed my teeth with restrained vigor,
I took my medications with food as instructed,
I did not swim for an hour after eating,
I did not make love to my neighbor’s wife.
I did not dust my pink lungs with tobacco soot,
These safety measures have paid off,
I am seventy and still alive.
Oh yes,
and I drove to the limits of speed and no more,
I wore a seatbelt,
I locked the car doors while waiting in parking lots,
I did not cross the solid yellow line.
I did what anyone does to remain alive.
Still, even taking precautions,
I live a dangerous life.
Disease attacks the innocent,
my friend died of cancer,
another was crushed of a stopped heart.
Accidents happen:
planes crash, cars smash,
hotel balconies collapse killing dozens.
Through no skill of my own I survived.
I wasn’t there when these things occurred.
Blind luck.
But just to be on the safe side,
I fortify my luck with preventative measures.
2013