Hey, where did my stamina go?

Long, long ago, there was a lollipop man in a bright yellow coat with quicksilver stripes, and a magic wand to stop the traffic. Whenever he saw a walker, he would create safe passage across the busy road, like Moses parting the Red Sea. Then he’d jump on his bike with his gardening tools, and cycle off to dig for a living. And fix computers.

How hard he worked! But suddenly he was tired. Nearly every day. Tireder and tireder, for years and years and years. He worked slowly. Lost his way. No cure. Friends’ disbelief.

Now he scribbles poems.