The Fun House
by Danny C. Wash
Standing on the precipice of older age,
it is with some fear and trembling
that I peer ahead with dimming eyes
into the unknown and unmet years.
Before, when I've looked at the year ahead
and then when I am well into it, I think
how all of this was just unexpected.
It’s like walking through a fun house
at the carnival and all kinds of things
in the dark jump out and scare you -
clowns and monsters screaming.
I don’t know what I expected but
usually I think, “it wasn’t this.”
But, sometimes what jumps out at
you is a blessing, a pleasant blessing.
A call from an old friend with kind word.
A grandchild’s smile and big hug before
they grow too old for that and before they
recognize your faults and weaknesses.
If you take a flashlight into the fun house
and shine it on the scary things, they lose
their scariness and we realize they are nothing
to be afraid of but just a small distraction.
Don’t forget your flashlight next year
and remember your batteries (or as the
old people used to call them “bat trees”)
But if it is something real and bad, throw
the flashlight at it and run like hell or at
my age it might be, limp like heck.
