When an old car starts breaking down
piece by piece
part after part
you know that at some point you are
throwing good money after bad
and that at some point you might be better off
trading it in.
When your right shoulder hurts
and then your left
and then your lower back
— or is that your sciatica? –
and then your ankle wobbles
and there is that sore knee
and that ear thing that happens sometimes when it’s raining
and the diamond-ice-pick thing behind one eye that shows up at 3 am
after that red wine even though it says
Organic and
Local
and
Sulfite-Free
and you know it’s trade-in time
But there is nowhere to trade in.