Contradictions Poem by Jonathan Zuckerman

I awaken to the sound of birds
Coming from my alarm clock
Natural sounds to awaken me gently
Made by a machine

The aroma of my wife’s perfume
Mixes stealthily with the smell of the cat’s dung
Creates within me an ambiguity
The kind that flavors so many of my waking thoughts

“A new life has begun.” I say
Quoting Bela Lugosi from “Glen or Glenda, ” I am joking (?)
Ironic, since my life is mostly over
But also true because my life is turning anew