An Elder Elaborates

Chuck Taylor

May 14, 2023

In Korea strangers offered on buses their seats

When I was 50

I knew I was old

I knew I was not old

I had a daughter three

In Texas I took her

daddy-daughter camping

We threw oranges into

the open mouths

of baby crocodiles

standing on the shore

of a lake in east Texas woods 

till they told us not to

Today that daughter's 32

We're in a ryokan in Japan

sleeping on futons on tatami mats by

a raging mountain river 

She's with her husband in the other room

Shall I speak of doom?

Bad knees mean it's

Hard to get up off the floor

My CPAP machine made for better sleep through the night

I am old. Still old.

Seems like rooms are always cold

I never wear my trousers rolled

Chuck Taylor's latest novel is "Hamlet Versus Shakespeare." He taught Shakespeare at Angelo State University. The novel turns the tragedy of Hamlet into an adventure and comedy. Taylor is retired from wandering and teaching and spends his time with books, friends, family, manuscripts, a dog, and household repairs.