Diminishing Returns

Friendships founded decades ago,
Flannel soft and warm at first,
Now worn and tearing at the seams.
Discard old rags? I have, but then
I wander bare through friendless dreams.

Sweat and pant, establish goals
In gym exertions, ephemeral grails,
For time abrades the toughest gears;
They crack and slip, and suddenly
The bod's immobile and damp with tears.

Write each morning, plot each night,
Volumes heap upon my shelves,
Dinosaur dust encrusting these,
Paper strata doomed to burn
In tomorrow's pyre; strew ashes, please!

Forced social settings frustrate me;
I go pro forma and endure.
They learn my name, but in an hour
It's been erased. Estranged anew,
I toddle home and take a shower.

"Love them all." A towering task
When humans fail to love their own,
Close their ears to withering pleas
And persecute for pride or pay;
A dog's better off without its fleas.