“85” by In-Q

Posted on September 1st, 2015

I wanna fall in Love at 85

Go on shuffleboard dates and dance to hip-hop from ‘95

Our song would be Staying Alive, but only for the message

Otherwise we’d keep away from disco, it’s depressing

We’d rock matching tracksuits and rope gold chains

We’d look like Run DMC but in their old age

We’d take aerobics classes

And wear bifocal glasses

And eat at I-HOP

And hold hands at Sunday masses.

And when it comes to the bedroom?

Well, nothing much would happen in the bedroom, because were 85

But we would still be down to take a walk, or take a drive, or sit and talk, and have a drink

And watch the passers by, and ask each other why

And how, and who, and where, and when

And then we’d laugh and cry again

About the people we had been

And I would touch her withered skin and comment on how thin it is, to keep in something infinite

And she would smile sweet and blush then tell me that I think too much

She’s right I think too much

It’s always been a problem

But then again that’s how I made my green like the goblin

When I was in my 20’s I was eating Top Ramen

Counting up my pennys, saving up to go food shopping

But now I’m 85, and somehow I feel more alive

I turn my hearing aid up and bump Jurassic 5

I read the sports page while she peruses classifieds

We like antique stores, garage sales, and barter buys

We got the box set of Louie at a bargain price

We’ve watched it so much that we have the lines memorized

We sip on my Mai-Tai’s and sunbath at public pools

We both have season theatre passes to the sacred fool

And when it comes to the bedroom

Well hopefully, every once in a while, I knock her boots into the floral patterns of our bedpost

Then hold her head close, like death isn’t chasing us

Planning on erasing us and replacing us, with better versions of us

Re-shaping us, re-making us, then re-creating us, with new identities so we can make new memories

Hush, little baby

Learn to walk, and talk, and feel, and lie, and think, and fight, and fuck, and die, and never get the answers why

She dips a joint of grass in wheatgrass and we get high

Her hair is silver as the moon in the Miami sky

We still pop pills

But it’s not the Xanex anymore

Whenever we can’t sleep we listen to the ocean floor

She got a Sound of the Sea CD for me from the Brookstone store

And ever since I’ve been snoring like a… 

What’s that word?

Oh, a buzz saw

Sorry, I go blank sometimes

But hey I’m 85

I’m not complaining, I’m just happy that I’m still alive

And happy that I have my better half by my side

Super fly

She doesn’t look a day over 65

When I first saw her, I was totally in awe

She was classical, so I was like Yo-Yo Ma

And that was all it took, a single look and I was shook

I fell for her like some loose shingles from a Spanish roof

And I’ma Love her till she loses every last root

And has to glue dentures to her gums to chew solid food

Oooo

Now that’s real Love dude.

That’s some push comes to shove Love.

Not when it’s convenient Love.

Hospital bed Love.

Feed her ice chips Love.

Never leave the room Love.

Sleeping in the chair Love.

Pray to up above Love.

Have to pull the plug Love.

Miss her in your bones Love.

Everything about her Love.

Die within a month Love.

Can’t live without her Love.

Love.

The only reason that we are alive

And none of us should have to wait until we’re 85

* This poem was written and performed by IN-Q * Photo by Zach Allia @zachallia

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