Bart Wilcox
Be a Banana As Long as You Canna:
Meditations on Aging
Gouache and acrylic on canvas, 12″ x 16″

Remember when we were all young and green as limes,
untouchable, invulnerable? Tuesday, I think it was.
“Connected at the stalk,” they said of us, so
close we were confused one with another.
We hardly noticed ourselves changing, clearly,
we were, on the inside, as well, but we were
not the type to ask, “Do you feel as I do?”
And then so quickly in our prime, golden fingers
mirrored in polished stone. That is when we
began to leave, one by one, and the rest of
us, with the spots undeniable on the skin,
so we turned inside, now sweeter but turning
to mush, withering pods on the hook. And without
a partner, no place to hang but hanging on.