39

Thirty-Nine

Hitchcock took thirty-nine steps.
I have stepped thirty-nine years.
Aside from not sounding forty,
thirty-nine has a nice ring,
thirteen times three
almost twenty (nineteen and a half)
times two.

Nineteen years since I wrote
twenty is plenty
but twenty was not nearly enough
to know what I was talking about.

The three and the nine
tease one another
three times three

A dozen past Jim and Jimi and Janis and Brian and Kurt
Brian died the day I turned two
Jim waited until the day I turned four

Three plus Nine
is Twelve
One plus Two
is Three
plus Three
plus Three
is Nine.

It could be worse. I could be forty.
Forty is harsh and sounds like a snort.
I could be with Jim and Brian
but I am not.
I am in the realm of thirty-nine
and content to reside here
until forty comes chortling along
next
year.