He Still Watches T.V On The Couch

The old man still looks tougher than life,
even if there are a few more dents
in his "don´t mak´em like they used to" armor.
I told him to be careful
while the cancer creeped up his soft underbelly
and attacked me from my unseen side.
 
There was no reason to talk about it
on the ride to the airport.
 
One phone call, 15 minutes before it was time
trumped 23 days of "everthing is going to be o.k".
Now, I treat those hugs like precious stones
because the last one is so anti-climatic.
 
Who am I?
What are we?
Screaming like idiots,
after all that chest pumping
has morphed into feeble yelps.
Pretending to turn over the hour glass
with black coffee in the mornings,
bottles of Jack Daniels over stories
that have been told too many times already,
and waking up with chiggers  
from the sand castle next to the lake.
It doesn´t matter,  
when life shows up with uninvited guests.
The bull only knows it will die
after it is far too late.
 
He gave it 62 good years
and promised to go out like a man.
Still I won´t cry,
or fly across oceans  
to remember something that was supposed to happen.
Even winners lose in the end,
but the special ones hold out a little longer.
 
and never, just give what they´ve earned away.