I Would Not Die

I would not die for God or for Country and to anyone why should i bow
Though millions would not see me as an equal in any way to their Sacred Cow
But why deny them their opinion and like 'tis said to each their own
And that wisdom is not born of knowledge is something that's all too well known.

I was a schoolboy of the fifties and the years have left me looking gray
Far older but surely not wiser though we learn from life every day
I live far south of my old hometown far even as the crow does fly
Each day i wake to the song of the pee wee he pipes in the parkland nearby.

What matter if i am a lowbrow a scribbler of doggerel
My life story may not be interesting though we all have a life story to tell
And in the end does it much matter to the celebrity or you and i
For after all we are mere mortals and mere mortals are born to die.

I am not religious or patriotic and i would not die for Country or God
My journey through life is a hard one though many others on harder roads have trod
I'd love to live to be one hundred or if not for as long as i can
And die in my sleep without waking as a fragile and worn out old man.