Legends and Commoners

I’m not exactly Henry the Eighth

And here I am with the gout.

It hits me in the toes and thumbs

Nothing to do but wait it out.

I’m not exactly George the Third

But sometimes my memory will lag.

I went to the kitchen to empty the trash

And came back with a potato chip bag.

I’m sure I don’t know Torquemada

Yet the personal trainer I hired,

Twists and turns and contorts this body

To the point I should have expired.

Nope, not Hamlet and not King Lear,

Not Ophelia, Desdamona, or Lady MacDuff,

I’ve got some things in common with them,

And one thing better—I’m tough.

By Eileen Clemens Granfors

Copyright, 2008