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I knew that sooner or later
I’d find an image to help illustrate a
point I might want to make
about blip birthdays not being
quite what they used to be.

I just needed to wait a while.
I hovered in the wings like a waiter
impatient for the last diners
in the restaurant to finish their meal
and ask for the bill.

(Perhaps it was a celebratory meal
they were savouring. A small gathering
in honour of someone’s special day?
I wonder if there were balloons,
champagne, cake?).

It feels like an age since I
last had a birthday at this venue.
I know that we’ve lost quite a few
of the folk who helped me celebrate
it last time.

And I know that invitations
(notifications in this case)
don’t get sent like they used to
so I’ve no great expectations
of anyone but the regulars calling in.

But if you do show your face
take no notice of the downbeat  tone
of this attempt at a poetic moan;
I unequivocally and emphatically state
(in a line rather long and alone)

that your presence is still something I do genuinely appreciate.



Young Forever