forty years in a barrel would make anybody cranky
and you don't have the friends you used to
and your children stopped coming to visit
and your kitchen table wobbles
because the matchbooks you use to steady it
keep getting used for other things
and replaced when you remember
(which is never)
so your coffee cup shakes on its own
and you gave up on trying to add sugar
when you glazed your table like a ham
but it's worth it
(it's probably worth it)
for when your kids do come to visit
and they take the food from your freezer
and they bring you ice cream and new socks
and they get mad at you for not voting
but the bus the city offers for the elderly
stops up over the hill and it's just too much
it's worth it
it just is, because if it isn't, well
that would be something for the grandkids, wouldn't it?