Arthur didn’t want to stay

Much longer on this earth

He’d milked all it had to give

There was lacking now the mirth

He had played each role was offered

Been a father and a mate

He was quite prepared to leave it all

To mother natures fate

He saw no gain in numbers

He had done more than he knew

Already lived a long way past

Some others not a few

So he waited for the verdict

With a calmness that was strange

He felt no need to remonstrate

Or others so derange

The letter hit the carpet

Then pronounced his time of death

There was plenty time to fold it

Before he took his final breath