Celebration – September 2nd, 1948
We all take note of special occasions.
We celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries
And other annual days of note.
We have parties, we give gifts,
We send cards and letters,
We offer up best wishes
For continued good health
And especially, Many Happy Returns.
They are joyous times
Filled with warmth and feelings
Of love and affection.
Why?
These times should be grim reminders
Of the slow, relentless march of time,
Another circuit around the sun
Of which we have so precious few.
Our birthdays and anniversaries
Are undeniably limited and fixed.
Each one marks one less X to place
Upon that calendar mounted on the wall.
One less time to gather with friends
And raise a glass to fond memories
Of days and weeks and months gone by
In that brief span since last we met.
We laugh and sing to hide the fact
That we are mortal.
We try to forget, for that one day a year,
We share a common fate.
But cause for celebration?
We have survived.
Another year gone by in which
We’ve raised a middle finger
To all the fates that tried to bar our way,
Spit in the face of all adversities
That stood before our path.
Over hurdles, past barricades,
Through all the trials and tribulations
That beset our journey,
We have triumphed.
Instead of being mortal,
We are, in truth, immortal.
