My eldest is in China <br />On the way to the Li Jiang <br />She’s seen the Terracotta Warriors <br />In a place that called Xian. <br /> <br />My youngest, she’s in Sydney town <br />Her love in life is reading books <br />She has a sense of fantasy <br />And red curled Irish looks. <br /> <br />Me? I am in Pearl Beach <br />For others paradise <br />But I am on my own up here <br />And lead a damaged life. <br /> <br />I suffer from depression <br />And that’s very clear to see <br />For though the sun is shining high <br />It looks so dark to me. <br /> <br />I have many close that hold me <br />I am lucky in that way <br />They love me just for me being me <br />And don’t seem go away. <br /> <br />But the track of time’s unwinding <br />Each year, past friends are lost <br />Sometimes illness, now a suicide <br />And ‘gainst their names I put a cross. <br /> <br />For I am the last man standing <br />I’m like those soldiers made of clay <br />I am the last man standing <br />I am not going to go away. <br /> <br />I am the last man standing <br />For I have a hand of cards <br />That others wish that they did have <br />But being the last’s becoming hard. <br /> <br />For my eldest is in China <br />My youngest still in Sydney town <br />Although they are away from me <br />My heart is with them now. <br /> <br />Look! My greyness, it is passing <br />Now I can see the sun! <br />I know they love me for being me <br />Not for what I have not done. <br /> <br />For this thing called life is fragile <br />But it has a strength within <br />Not brittle like those warriors <br />But as fine as porcelain.<br /><br />David Keig<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/last-man-standing-2/
