Remember when you broke your right hip?

It came as a shock to me.

There you were, the picture of health,

And only eighty three.

 

Of course, you were most disgruntled.

There were too many things on your list

To bother with things like broken hips:

“Good Lord! I have no time for this!”

 

At the time when it happened, you were living abroad;

We pleaded with you to come home.

You gasped at the thought and laughed in response:

“I’m perfectly fine on my own!”

 

Remember when you broke your left hip?

I thought, how could fate be so mean?

Two broken hips in the space of a year –

What an unlucky twenty eighteen!

 

The stroke was the icing on top of the cake,

I didn’t think you could take too much more.

But, once again, you surprised us all

The nurses’ jaws dropped to the floor.

 

From day one you were walking unaided,

Hopping in and back out of the bed,

And I’m sure all the doctors were wondering

What the hell was going on in your head!

 

I heard that one of them nearly passed out

When you said you weren’t on any meds.

Meanwhile the OTs were pointing and whispering,

Disbelievingly shaking their heads.

 

So today, as I lay outside theatre,

Eyes fixed on the dripping morphine,

There was only one thought that passed through my head –

I hope I have your genes!