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Nearing My 70th Birthday with a Stiff and Painful Back

If I am to carry a cane let’s make it a handsome one
a single piece of hardwood straight and strong
sanded fine, oiled not stained, made of a sapling
that fell on its own in a harsh summer storm, grain
as complex as a map of a place well-traveled
something to draw attention to itself
instead of my need of it
maybe even a source of envy—yes
the young men will envy the handsome stick I carry
or so I should convince myself

—
Kenneth White earned an M.A./Poetry in the 1970s but only started sending work out in 2023. Poems have appeared in Abandoned Mine, Paterson Review, Comstock Review, Mudfish, Pinyon, California Quarterly, The RavensPerch, Stone Canoe, Front Range Review, Shadow & Light, and others. Retired from a career in animal rescue, Santa Fe is home.

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