Arrival

This should be the end of my protracted youth

Where the drugs don’t work and my back hurts

And here’s the truth

This should be the start of my extended middle age

The settled end of rage

And my back hurts

But this is the start of the heart

Whose beating you can't rely on

Yes this is the place we prepared for

Like it or not

As soon as your snot

Has crisped in your mother's hands

You set off for this place

Only now you realise it’s not a race

But a sudden arrival at a place

You should have seen a mile off.