Kirk Douglas at 98 proves a sublime master of rhyme

At 98, Kirk Douglas says that he has written his last book.

He has written several books since the publication in 1988 of his autobiography, "The Ragman's Son," His insistence that he's done publishing has nothing to do with his age. He doesn't think he could ever top the recently published "Life Could Be Verse."

"I think it is the best book I have ever written because I have done something I have never done before," Douglas said.

The slim book includes poems he's written over the past seven decades, autobiographical stories and professional and family photographs. He recited one of the entries:

Romance begins at 80/ And I ought to know./ I live with a girl/ Who will tell you so.

The inspiration for the poem was his wife, Anne. The two met in Paris in 1953 when she was the publicist on his film "Act of Love."

"We've been married over 60 years and that's something," he said, breaking into a warm smile.

A savvy producer, he also helped to break the Communist blacklist in Hollywood when he insisted that blacklisted "Spartacus" screenwriter Dalton Trumbo receive screen credit.

These days, although Douglas walks with a cane, he's sweet and full of good humor. He wears his white hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"I let it grow, and it grew so long someone said, 'Let's make a ponytail,' " Douglas said. "Do you think I'm good-looking?"

For years Douglas hid his poetic side.

"But when you get to be 98, you begin to be brave," he said. "You get to be strong enough to be weak."

"A town's a lonely town," Douglas started to croon. "When you pass through and there is no one waiting there for you."

Though his Broadway musical career never came to fruition — "Such a disappointment, because I loved that musical," he said — Douglas and frequent co-star Burt Lancaster did three song-and-dance routines for the Oscars. He also performed "A Whale of a Tale" in the 1954 Disney classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

"They made a commercial record of it," he noted with pride.

Some of his poems in the book are darker, especially "For Michael," which deals with his eldest son, Oscar-winning actor/producer Michael Douglas, with whom he has a close relationship.

"Am I a good father?" I asked my son/ He took a pause, too long for me/ I waited and waited for him to answer/ And finally he said, "Ultimately."

As for his wife, Douglas said he's more in love with her than ever.

"She usually sits there," he said, pointing to her spot in the family room of their Beverly Hills home. "I sit here. We talk about things that have happened. We call that the golden hour."