My 30-something son is sick again.
From flu or spoiled food he’s feeling sore.
His wife is ailing too, but most the men
we care about appear to suffer more.
She asked me was he like this as a child?
Describing chronic ear infections, breaks
of wrist and noggin, wheezing, I’m beguiled:
I don’t remember any stomachaches.

Reviewing notes from when I was their age,
I see how often ill I felt, and yet,
adjusting and recovering, the stage
that followed was the strongest for my set.
Unsung, the toughest decade may well be
the span that leads adults to 43.