cease to ache–don’t dare

the years of dings and rough and tumble

lend some juice to moans and groans

and you fall when once you’d stumble

and then feel it in your bones

gradually you can’t avoid all

manner of those it-hurts signals

waveforms slightly sinusoidal

muscle cramps and hamstring bid pulls

choose to be sanguine and stoic

makes the aches your friends–you’ll see

from the distant Mesozoic

Cease to Ache means Cease to Be.