Leo Larry Amadore Poet Free verse

Age Disparaged

"The body, like the oak, is bent and gnarled,
The shallow-rooted mind is overthrown,
When we are near the evening of the world."
---From, 'Runes for an Old Believer", by Rolfe Humphries

Facebook post: "Respect your elders!"

My mind may not be now
as nimble as once it was,
and although I might see all
with jaundiced sight, not fresh,
not new, my mood is mostly
cool and quite calm.

           --- Until, that is,
some brash provocateur 
begins to essay an attack, 
thinking to erase the marks 
my words have made and to 
overwrite them with his own.

I care not very much that he 
with logic may displace my niche, 
nor cleverly might mock me.  
But to disparage Age in dotage, 
with vile invectives, is doltish, 
brutish and dumbfounding.

My sweetest comfort is
to have no doubt that he
(nor others of his ilk) will
never see how ineffectual 
must be this mild complaint.

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Caren Krutsinger November 1, 2021 at 11:40 PM I am usually calm too but "my mood is mostly cool and quite calm. --- Until, that is, some brash provocateur begins to essay an attack, thinking to erase the marks my words have made and to overwrite them with his own." I imagine I would not be calm if this happened to me either.

Maurice Rigoler May 2, 2021 at 4:22 PM Larry, your the first to understand what this poem is about, some of it at least. I have another one similar about emasculated fruit trees – they bloom but produce no fruit – much like boys were once castrated to keep their "angelic" voices. An evil that overlooked a greater evil, that of denying boys the God-given fruitage of their loins. Thank you for stopping by. Best to you in your writing endavors. / Maurice

Maurice Rigoler February 28, 2020 at 10:26 AM Haha! Love the ending, Larry. Don't take my humor as a reflection of my personal likes and dislikes. Black, on the right female body, is still classic, stylish, and striking. But as a slimming down fabric it's an illusion. Better to lose weight by eating less and exercising. Thanks for the stop by. Best to you in your writing endeavors. / M