Risk Homeostasis

Everything we do to be safe
Entices some new recklessness.
The successful rehab provides
An excuse to start back smoking.

The lack of need for a rehab
Is a good reason for gorging,
The diet triumph yields shopping,
The windfall from frugal saving

A reason for paragliding,
Airbags an excuse for driving
Too fast down country roads at night
When the moon is up and shining,

Even the escape from marriage
To some lunatic derelict
Is all the more reason to date
Or to join the ladies who lunch

In narrow dresses believing
They can't get too rich or too thin.
Gregor Mendel, celibate monk,
Indulged in feasts, cigars, and peas.

Prince Hal sobered up for warfare.
Mother Theresa found herself
Strangely attracted to lepers.
The healthy young tempt everything.

And if we defeat our killers
And leap into longevity,
There are strange diseases of age
We still die from rarely but will.