On Being 86
By: Charles Giuliano - Oct 25, 2026
On Being 86
Is it a lot
Or not enough
So much yet to be done
Likely another book
Organizing archives
Daily exercises
Staying reasonably fit
Mind and body
Taking on projects
Reading Roman history
Those six years of Latin
Orations of Cicero
Mastering rhetoric
Labor of youth
Now resonating
Suetonius, Juvenal, Tacitus
Catullus, Virgil, Ovid
Poets and philosophers
Good and bad emperors
Gilding the oval office
Like Nero’s Domus Aurea
Fool’s gold of tyrants
Art and architecture
How like now
He who would rule us
A time of summing up
Counting blessings
Quotidian and familial
Sharing a life
So many adventures
Then and now
With Astrid every step
Daily proof of life
Pip who has seen it all
Gathering with friends
Tonight the annual paella
Cake and champagne
Cheer and memories
Tuesdays with Michael
Monk from Cape Cod
Tugging my bloated balloon
Full of hot air
Back to earth
Where I belong
The greatest gift
Still breathing
Who can ask
For anything more