One Day They Will Come

   
Now I know how the Jews must have felt  
watching quietly in fear  
wondering when the bolt will shake  
waiting for the door to splinter  
before time judders on its rope  
and the universe lies unhinged  
   
The neighborhood  
seems filled with  
clever  
young  
successful  
arty types  
not yet ready to worry  
or maybe no-one  
quite recalls  
just who puts out the trash  
or plucks the dregs  
from the era before  
   
One day the unmarked trucks  
must lumber in  
driven by the young  
to make room for more  
an army culling age  
clipboard efficiency  
reducing lifetimes  
beyond the allotted span  
to a landfill bag  
of bones  
    
Just let me    
die first  
still able to feed myself  
remembering my medicine  
and wiping my own drool  
before my screams cripple the night  
before I'm a burden upon you all  
a blight on the future's dignity    
scorned by failing years.