I Turned Forty As Well...Once

I also wrote a poem when I turned 40. Here it is.


The Birthday Party

Tonight I am handed
a bigger piece of cake
than usual, and a fork

I remember as a child.
A bolloon inscribed
"Forty" pops up

and is lightly
batted about the room.
The punch has a jocular

ring. The cake and fork
are still on my lap.
It's time, they say,

to unwrap the present.
Now the double-headed
candle is trotted out.

Here is the card from
the humor section. Hey,
a bottle of prune wine.

And why not? The year
passes; the dog barks.
The moon grins

in the twigs of an elm.
That sound is my fork
smacking the plate.

--Jon Knudsen, 1983