True vanity ignores the mirror,
brushes aside all compliments;
secure in feeling superior
humble to all appearance.

There ain't much fun in being old;
there's little future to unfold;
I hate the winter, wet and cold;
the same old jokes have all been told;
there's no young woman I can hold.

But still I'm stabled, watered, fed;
my bank account is never red;
and though I've been too long unwed,
things could be worse, for when all's said,
it's slightly better than being dead.

Ipanema

While I lie on the beach in the evening sun,
vultures and frigate birds circle the moon.

After an evening of rum and soda

I reached the metro before it closed,

wobbled home to the hostel sofa,

flopped myself down and almost dozed

but then I noticed two strange leaves

on one of the courtyard's potted trees

vibrating in the night-time breeze

(like something seen but never heard)

imitating a humming bird !