Reflections As An Adult On 'The Season Of Goodwill'

Why is it that so many who are used to feeling
that they are part of the human race
though how they are entertained
by films and TV all year round,
that boredom and loneliness make
such highly compatible helpmates
to each other that they multiply
when the human entertainments
industry goes stale and runs dry? 

Proof Of Life Is Hard To Find

Centenarians are often interviewed for television news.
They are asked when they reach their 100th birthday
'What  is the secret of your longevity?'
I would like their answers to be more than talk
of some minor peccadillo. I would prefer them to mention
the health service they rely on, the reliability of their community
or family, the profound simplicity of their philosophy,
as if living slowly was living more fully,
and greater age has expanded them.
I would also like the camera to level with them,
and be still, so they can look clear eyed into the lens
as they speak, as if what they said mattered.

But the perhaps light entertainment
is the wrong place to look for proof of life.