A deja-vu remembrance harkens back
at least a decade plus,
when a series of unfortunate events
required us (yours truly, his wife and then
two late teenage daughters,
who yielded at the tug of autonomy)
whereat this former Bryn Mawr Bard
and his muse in dire need
seeking an affordable
one bedroom apartment
essentially a low income facility
which locale (a cross between something
akin to Creedence Clearwater Revival
and Lake Wobegon),
I write this updated
pursuit for life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness
cause the management here
(at Highland Manor Apartments\'),
where (I sense the regional manager)
seems to harbor objection towards us
as witnessed by
he drawing up and drafting a ridiculous
laundry list of issues
that warrant immediate attention
lest we find ourselves
(yours truly and the missus)
without shelter from the elements
of how mother nature would style
severe challenges against us
as retribution for being born that way
meaning – with a poker face
and imposing on our respective psyches
a load of mental health issues
disallowing me to succeed at academics
nor acquiring and securing gainful employment
which found me a candidate
for social security disability
approximately LXVII roaming
half life of mine
at present a bundle of nerves
cause I gotta skedaddle with the spouse
as soon as possible,
the only drawback being
inability to pay rent
for a luxurious suite.
Recalcitrant mailer daemons
wailed like banshees
roost upon sacred cerebral hemispheres
fancy feast beyond flesh jawboning,
rabidly tearing satiation point
rule thy roost wreaking
havoc within psyche
ominous anguish asphyxiates, chokes,
and strangles means to gasp for air
snatches of gulped oxygen
barely elude death
cruel damn fate pitches
thyself and spouse
into the galley maw free
essential sands Father time
spell rental termination
Mother of necessity
and absentee landlord
the faux promise as tenant
then (about a dozen
dirty deeds done dirt cheap years ago)
then at Ridley Town Manor Apartment
arrayed two story foursquare brick domiciles
within blue-collar
zip code of Crum Lynn, Pennsylvania
held fleeting promise
to avoid harsh indignities
of raw byte sized elements
circumstances took about face predicated
on many stipulations
never spelled out, nor lease proffered
plus inability of my financially strapped
octogenarian father could no longer be philanthropic,
(who since passed away
about five and a half years ago)
experiencing his own financial woes
as he continued
to notch chronological markers
then which at four score
and eight journeys mortality,
impressed hefty depleting monetary costs
requisite to remain at plush
Twin Silo Retirement Community
nestled among aery
enclaves to house uptick
in elder population,
which havens for those
trying to enjoy their golden years
realized (asper my dad), that longevity
quickly gobbles up accretion of savings
clamoring at emptiness, though younger,
my checking accounts
(ofttimes compromised me
being hoodwinked money
courtesy virtual theft scoundrel(s),
where he/she, him/her, they/them,
et cetera required
cents (less Ness) and sense ability
of mine to be put upon life support
and as iterated sole income awarded
from social security
for a raft of riptides and undercurrents
susceptibility to anxiety, dysthymia,
obsessive/compulsive disorder,
palmar hyperhidrosis, and schizoid personality
disorders present since birth,
yet which clarity courtesy
sans Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
at middle aged affixes
a legitimate psychiatric name
to the many woeful mental health gremlins
buzz-feeding egregiously,
diminishing coping skills
without plenti full supportive resources
hens (this chicken
and egg thing) spurred suicidal ideation
immediately doth spike, thus Zarathustra
and though nary a bloody red cent garnered
vis a vis via tinker, tailor, soldier
spy catcher of versatile wit
Zilch = the current net result
coaxing, dabbling, and earning
with said minted medium,
which upside per literary skill
allows, enables and provides
a golden opportunity
to write my own
caucasian, latitudinarian, nonestablishmentarian,
Pennsylvania, solitudinarian, and Unitarian epitaph.