At a Certain Age

"The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour."
                              - www.usa.gov


      Shouldn't we just be sitting
doing nothing— sitting pretty 
      in a garden or before a fire,
nicely balancing risk and reward? 
      We might take a quick look at 
an investment portfolio before booking 
      tickets to Iceland or the Azores. 
I read on my Kindle as I walked 
      going nowhere on a treadmill
at the gym: You spend your life
      accumulating things... then 
you have to maintain them. Likewise,
      will we spend all our lives 
maintaining our lives, for the sole
      reason we'll wind up in
the shadow of the church tower, 
      next to our departed kin? 
The Iowa senator defending Medicaid 
      cuts said We're all going to die, 
for heaven's sakes. Sure, maybe,
     but before that happens, I guess
we'll be required to work 80 hours
     a month— nothing like a life
of hard work before we die and go to
     either Jesus or the tooth fairy.