I’ve considered a tattoo

But I’m afraid

I won’t value tomorrow

What I value today.

My daughter, that’s tried knitting

And a dozen other things

None of them she mastered

Before moving on

Can choose her tattoos in an afternoon

Confident she will love it

Love it now and tomorrow.

The solstice is next weekend

At least that’s what I’ve heard

Solstice is a scary thing

For a man of my age

A day of darkness mostly

Like the end of life

With only a legacy

With only a legacy left behind

With ONLY on a legacy.

My legacy could be

The last western expert on magnesium

A renaissance of technology and know-how

That America left behind

An America that says “Not in my backyard”

As China locks and loads

With people and firepower

On essential technology, we are too noble to do.

My legacy could be writing

Novels, poems, flooding my mind

From the moment I wake

Until I lay sleepless in bed

Words, stories, flooding from my past

My travels, lovers, and dreams

Connections I’ve made along the way

All fodder for a novel if enhanced

With what might have been.

But, but, but

Can I do them all

Or even one.

And how do I chose

Like the tattoo I never had.

Roe

Dec 2019