Since I still appreciate you,
Let's find love while we may.
-Tom Lehrer

~Repose~

Recline your bones. Take a rest.
Close your eyes. Think thoughts best.
Ease your mind
Woes? No kind.
Tomorrow, may you run with the rest.

Don't know why here you look.
You've read it all like a book.
Nothing to do
No thoughts to chew
For now, coast. Don't get shook.

Ahead the horizon's hot.
But for now, you know what you've got.
So give it a rest
Recharge for the best
Don't give tomorrow much thought.

Peace. May it ever be yours.
Peace to those who bring us good tours.
Wind down with thoughts mild
Ride steady when it gets wild
Think 'peace'. Even when it seems you're on all fours.

Know how deeply you are loved.
Any greater & you've be chatting with the angels above.
Hope it's clear how it's seen
Hope its not too obscene
Happy fiftysecond and two thirds, Turtledove!

P.S.
To continue playing at your "arthritic best"
(And at 52 and 2/3 I'm thinking surely you jest)
But every now & then I get a twinge too
So here's some tips on what I do.

Sorry if this has no beat & doesn't rhyme.
OTC meds like Tylanol Extended Release APF work fine.
Mind over matter; don't let it get ya.
Warm up slow, yet persistantly. Don't allow much gap before performing.
Generally, don't expose hands to vast temperature changes (despite global warming...)
Creams and soaking them in something warm may help but is often too cumbersome a vice.
Gentle hand massage, a heating pad, steam room, or hot blowdryer might be nice.

Taking care of oneself as best possible, physically/ mentally/ spiritually, along with good planning and luck,
Means no infirmaty will rule me [for a given length of time]

[...couldda rhymed that...]

If for one second you see such measures as demeaning or retarded,
Think of the prizefighter who goes out without first taping is gloves or inserting his mouth guard.

(But you know all of this. Its all quite practical.)

My dear friend with arthritis termed rheumatoid
Had bulbous knuckles, wrists and finger joints
Still, played many recitals at 70 annually in Maine.
She often used such methods for physical pain.
(She also had some iodine like tincture, smelled like vomit.
I never used it, so on its potency I can't comment.)

Why am I doing this? My infirmities I be talkin'?
Have I reached 'old age'? Nothing else to be about squawkin'?
Naw...it's most selfish. Rest assured, its about bucks.
Didn't wanna spend $300 to sit there & hear you painfully suck.

(Always listen to your physicians' advice first.
Void where prohibited. Tax and title fees cannot be reversed.)