Elderly man in a cabin

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

It used to be fun, drinking, smoking
playing poker with my friends
till they one by one walked into the long, unknown night;
now I sit and play solitaire,
in front of me a glass of low fat milk
and a packet of chewing gum.

Booze and cigarettes
the spice of life is gone
and my life is an even stream
running through a boring agricultural landscape;
queen goes on king, jack goes on queen!
and never mind,
long is the night waiting for a new spring.