one is asked
        to view
        their total error
        their life-waste
        with
        kindliness,
        especially if they are
        aged.

        but age is the total of
        our doing.
        they have aged
        badly
        because they have
        lived
        out of focus,
        they have refused to
        see.
 
        not their fault?

        whose fault?
        mine?

        I am asked to hide
        my viewpoint
        from them
        for fear of their
        fear.

        age is no crime

        but the shame
        of a deliberately
        wasted
        life

        among so many
        deliberately
        wasted
        lives

        is.
 

:-(