Table of Contents

Time was when a title like, say, “The Rise
Of Trade in Thirteenth Century
Albania” would make my eyes
Glaze over with such rapidity
That I’d never reach the “in.” So why,
With clouds of dotage gathering,
Do I seem to have become a guy
Who’d read a piece on anything?

The mental lens is widest in
The young, authorities aver;
Whereas, though no contrarian,
I’d have to say my aperture
Has opened to the world of late:
A mystery I’m in no mood
To probe, my being in a state
With only room for gratitude.