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Obi-Wan Kenobi goes to the Porirua Aquatic Centre

Not so far, far away – to be here and

once again mortal, after Palpatine and Vader –

all those years as just a ghost in The Force.

Old have you become in your grey togs,

across the galactic void to aqua jog in the slow lane

rest a little in the adults’ spa.

I see you trying not to watch the teenage girls

in their chunky polka dots and I can feel

your compassion for the

mothers and fathers, weak from obesogenic particles,

the unnatural consequences of children

and gravity in a consumerist

atmosphere. Where to next, Ben?

They’re not your grandchildren chasing down

the lazy river – clouding up the water.

Will you find that luminescent core again and

leave this place? Will you take on the hydroslide anyway –

you, and that dodgy left hip.