Smoke

I am in my 60s
Five years younger
Than my wife who muses
That past 60 life gives us new
Problems which seem to her to be
Just one damn thing after another
So I smile at her tell her she is
Still beautiful and I love her
But she looks at me replying,
“My body has betrayed
Me.” To which I respond
Not a betrayal but
Rather a new
Contract
Renewal with
Extra clauses to
Cover plus the new
Knowledge gained more
Than compensates for life’s
Little inconveniences to which
Her blue eyes turn grey and
Her old northern Virginia
Accent comes back
Like a line of
Muskets
Belching pink
Yellow gun smoke,
“Simply unacceptable.”