Old Age, a poem

Old age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably
for the first time in my life,
the person I have always
wanted to be.
Oh, not my body!
I sometimes despair
over my body ...
the wrinkles,
the baggy eyes,
and the sagging butt.

And often I am taken aback
by that old person that
lives in my mirror,
but I don't agonize over
those things for long.

I would never trade
my amazing friends,
my wonderful life,
my loving family
for less grey hair or
a flatter belly.
As I've aged,
I've become more kind to myself,
and less critical of myself.
I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself
for eating that extra cookie,
or for not making my bed,
or for buying that silly
cement gecko that I didn't need,
but looks so avant-garde
on my patio.

I am entitled to overeat,
to be messy,
to be extravagant.
I have seen too many
dear friends leave this
world too soon;
before they understood
the great freedom
that comes with aging.

Whose business is it
if I choose to read or play
on the computer until 4 a.m.
and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to
those wonderful tunes
of the 60's, and if I,
at the same time, wish to
weep over a lost love...
I will.

I will walk the beach
in a swim suit that is
stretched over a bulging body,
and will dive into the waves
with abandon if I choose to,
despite the pitying glances
from the bikini set.

They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life
is just as well forgotten .
and I eventually remember
the important things.

Sure, over the years,
my heart has been broken.
How can your heart not break
when you lose a loved one,
or when a child suffers,
or even when a beloved pet
gets hit by a car?

But broken hearts are what
give us strength and
understanding and compassion.
A heart never broken is
pristine and sterile
and will never know the joy
of being imperfect.

I am so blessed
to have lived long enough
to have my hair turn grey,
and to have my youthful
laughs be forever etched
into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed,
and so many have died
before their hair could turn silver.
I can say "no", and mean it.
I can say "yes", and mean it.

As you get older,
it is easier to be positive.
You care less about
what other people think.
I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the right
to be wrong.

So, to answer your question,
I like being old.
It has set me free.
I like the person I have become.

I am not going to live forever,
but while I am still here,
I will not waste time lamenting
what could have been,
or worrying about what will be.
but will continue
to rejoice in what was.

http://www.marycy.org/remember.html

Comments

[sw]

so truthful, that I will definitely want to read it every single day when I am sad n confused...

[Miss Julie]

Hi: Thought you might like to know Glen Bear Smith, a writer on Fanstory.com wrote the great "old age" essay/poem. It seems to have travelled round the world. He called it "Old age is a gift" and won a contest with it. You can read about him on Fanstory.com. Find his profile from the Members box upper right on home page.

Miss Julie

[precilla]

im not the poetry kinda person coz i dnt think poetry will inspire me but after i read this poem on old age i know that poetry is inspiring and will change our stereotypical thoughts, like it did for me. it is a wonderful and an inspiring poem and now im waiting to get old to experience the boons of old age

[Helen]

Poetry is a great way to express and nurture emotional intelligence in others. Children especially can benefit for the use of poems to develop their EQ.