it
is hard to believe
this moment
has come
it has been
such a long time
in the making
yet
here am I
gathered
with the best of my friends
the pencil
the ledger
the eraser
we did it all
didn’t we
my friends
every day
the difficult to balance
the impossible
an investigative team
we
plumbed the depths
diving apparatus
weighted belt
and down
the columns
of numbers
so many columns
of sweet numbers
you
my friend
how many stubs
of less than knuckle length
did you become
and you
so elegantly holding
your ledger lines
in blue
and red
that you let me fill up
with the numbers
we erased a few
did we not
but only
what was needed
to achieve our goal
of balance
.
.
.
.
who would believe
this moment
would come
goodbye
my friends
we are neither surplus
nor are we
deficit
our sums
are balanced
we are done
~
👌
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Thank you Joseph.
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This is just charming. A touch sad but charming nonetheless.
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Thanks Anne. Yes, I think retirement should hold a touch of sadness – not too much though.
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Yes exactly.
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Very cools and clever! 🙂
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Thanks Tom. With a sharp pencil, everything can be worked out.
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Nice wit this.
An engineer friend once said, “I never retired, just took up another ‘job’.” When I met him he was a painter and a sculptor and, sometimes, a poet.
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A fine analogy
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Thanks Derrick.
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Yes, nicely nostalgic with its concluding equanimity. I love numbers and spreadsheets myself. Sometimes I fear that this is not a good thing. Enjoyed the tranquillity of this piece, Frank.
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I feel there is something special about quiet dignity, Steve. A good retirement has that feel for me, though I confess I was most interested in the relationship between man and tools.
Glad you enjoyed the piece.
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My pleasure, Frank. Yes, our tools, and I find that aspect kind of nostalgic as well. These items, pens, calculators, whatever, used to be friends as you described. For me, that is vanishing with the digital age, everything so temporary and always changing.
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The pace of change gets faster and faster until there is nothing left.
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Hi Frank. Looks like comments are closed for “Plethora,” so here is your private invitation to read it: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2018/06/28/eating-crow/
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