Best Elderliness Poems
The Right Gift.
When he was fifteen, a man, he had packed his bag
ready to join the merchant navy. His mother had two
parcels in her hands asked him to choose one and
not open it before he got old.
Since he liked to travel light he took the lightest packet
not bigger and heavier than letter, the other was
heavier and might have hidden a fortune.
Well he lived and loved and before he knew it was old,
opened the parcel, on a piece of paper was written
enjoy your life and embrace your elderliness.
His sister rang they had found this parcel amongst her
things with his name on it. Open it, he said. She did and
laughed, it was a brick, an ordinary house brick... How did
His mother knows he would choose the right present?
Skin cancer and Ayn Rand
So another sunny day is sinking into the sea I sat in the sun
for a while but it got too hot I do not understand people who
sit for hours in the sun, hot and painful just to get a tan.
I get a tan in the summer this by riding mine
bike around for an hour or so, only lately with advancing years
I easily tires and having had skin cancer I’m careful.
In January,I collapsed, ambulance sirens and so on; I was dying,
too stupid to notice as death is banal. Elderliness is an affliction
that is depressing, the loss of power, when steps
in the hall are obstacles, negotiations of the will, this sounded
like Ayn Rand whose teaching is the antithesis of a just society,
it worth noticing the rich think she is a goddess their inhumanity
have a philosophical point. Ayn Rand died in a madhouse.
I have no political ambitions, but I do believe in quality for all people,
I regret to say it is only just for some people.
Ancient Hamlet
Houses around me are emptying, the old reaching
the age of dying, are passing away. A timeworn man
went missing on Monday he was found miles away
by the police who drove him back home, he had tried
to flee didn’t know where and he had no money.
Behind locked doors in darkened rooms he tries to
stave off the preordained. The sunlight, unbearable
reminds him of future suns he will not live to see, or
for that matter, the rain that falls. When a car stops he
shakes with fear, is it a hearse coming for him? Voices
of happy children are like derision of his elderliness.
He longs for peace but fear death’s cruel endlessness.
Chemist Shop
At the entrance of the pharmacy a dead sparrow,
no one seemed to notice this tiny death.
The bird just lied there with folded wings and eyes
suitable closed, ready to be put in a coffin.
I told a shop assistant about it, she swept the bird
with a broom, into the tall grass.
There were many women inside, talking about none
prescription medicine, for aches and pain, they were
mostly middle aged and middle class and had not yet
realised that elderliness comes at a price.... pain.
Shelves full of revitalizing creams, promising a young
glow and sagging faces bought this overpriced stuff,
when a bit of olive oil on cotton swab would be more
effective, but not smell as sweetly.
My Phizog
Strange what one remembers?
after looking through Playboy magazine and skipping
the dreary articles written by it founder
I came across this quote: “every man over forty is
reponsable for his own face.”
at the time when reading it I was thirty and was not
unduly worried, but now nearly 50 years later I recalled
the saying. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, no
I didn’t look anything near forty, hair gone and sagging skin.
Face-lift? Out of the question I had no desire to look like
yesterday’s refry. I smiled, the face in the mirror too smiled,
two old mates accepting each other’s elderliness and I came
to the conclusion that I’m rather fond of my face.
The Wait
The wave of sleep washed my up on the bleak shore of the awake
half remembered dreams vanished and left behind a blank canvas.
I was alone with the grey mass of viscosity framed by boredom.
and I had no whisky or cigarettes to hide behind in my elderliness
pleasures long gone….The futures didn´t reveal itself saw I´, not
a seer, the past was an endless series of failure and I could not
recall anything in my life that had given me pleasure of lasting
kind it had all been so erratic, laughter mingled with contempt
of a circus clown with red nose.
looked out of the window and the sleeping town I noticed some
windows had light, and the 24 hour petrol station was open
they sold cigarette and booze too, put were out of happiness
and peace of mind packed in healthy disposable green bags.
Switched on the TV, Russia had occupied itself and people there
were jubilant; and they were looking for a plane that fell from
the sky a week ago, the world changes but slowly.
My Phizog
Strange what one remembers?
after looking through Playboy magazine and skipping
the dreary articles written by it founder
I came across this quote: “every man over forty is
reponsable for his own face.”
at the time when reading it I was thirty and was not
unduly worried, but now nearly 50 years later I recalled
the saying. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, no
I didn’t look anything near forty, hair gone and sagging skin.
Face-lift? Out of the question I had no desire to look like
yesterday’s refry. I smiled, the face in the mirror too smiled,
two old mates accepting each other’s elderliness and I came
to the conclusion that I’m rather fond of my face.
The old sea-gull
The old one-legged sea-gull
sat on my roof near the chimney
if felt the cold, scanning the sky.
Once it had been the captain on the outer reef
and fought many a battle to sit on his crown
Someone took a shot at it, and it lost a leg,
together with oncoming elderliness, it left its kingdom.
Took refuge on my roof and lives of scraps of food.
It is still standing proud, but it can´t be hidden
the decline that overcomes us all.
Like the sea-gull, we have to battle on, be dignified
of the onset awaiting us.
To love the self
My neighbour has four small dogs in the night if they hear
a cat they bark to protect their owner warning the unseen
enemy to stay away. The dim dogs know what they are,
for me, it is a struggle to know myself my likes and dislikes
are shifting sand the landscape is never the same I wake up
In the night ask what the hell I am doing here.
I meet people who no longer know me I put it down to
their elderliness as I find my old age impossible to grasp
I like triangles better than squares and are drawn to see
beauty in the odd ugly shapes fascinates me.
I don`t think the world has changed in my lifetime, well
perhaps the computers anything else is only redefined
and made easier to access for me this is easy but of course
Looking at myself in pictures going back forty years, I still fit
the same suit and has been modern and old-fashioned
several times and is still in good condition wish I could say
the same about me my I never really liked what I looked like
and what I think as dreamlike as the Saragossa Sea.
Old men and red wine (Portugal)
In the bodega old men drink red wine (never white)
They are proud of their elderliness and solves
The worlds many problems; something about keeping
your head down and work hard.
Then as shadows fall and night approaches, they go
home to wives who scold them gently for smelling of wine
but they do hope to meet their old friends tomorrow
afternoon at the bodega.
Not many bodegas left now, big wooden caskets of wine,
sink counter and stone floors, wine bars are taking over,
bottles of showy wine with posh labels like that should
have anything to do with friendship.
Passing misgivings
There are moments in once elderliness when
the flowers of the mind, the silver of remembrance
is but a cracked black & white film.
Old age and wishes blend into a golden patina of
illusion, disappointment seeps in melancholy
lower the tired head and doesn’t let it look up to see
the sky or sense the wind or rain.
This tristesse where has the laughter gone, the charm
of friendship and the beautiful women are
but ghosts in a threadbare past.
The squall doesn’t linger colours become visible there
is no time not to enjoy what`s left in the time glass.
The number of years, the length of life is meaningless,
the days, months, years on earth, our decline;
all the stages and chapters of our life to elderliness,
merely stepping stones to the here and now.
Fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty,
those advancing years- nothing;
fifty is the new thirty,
that is what I hear.
I intend to enjoy each day as it comes by,
not dwell on numbers but on living life;
not afraid of fifty or even death if it calls me,
keep active, think big, and just don't worry;
that's my advice . . .
_______________________
April 16, 2017
Verse/Age, Stepping Stones To Now
Copyright Protected, ID 892923
Appreciative
Six o`clock
In the morning
Is the best time
To get up when it is summer
Stay on the terrace
Inhale the air
Before it gets hot
Make a coffee
Just being alive
Elderliness is to be grateful
For little things
Nostalgia
The heat is unusual even the olive grove
looks tired, old trees gasping waiting for
sundown. Yet the evening is still hot and
no breeze soothes tired leaves.
Every august I tell myself that next year
I´ll go to Norway to cool down. But what
I´m going to do there, it will be raining and
I never had an umbrella.
In my old home town I will be walking up
and down streets trying to catch the old
magic, that perhaps wasn´t there in
the first place, there were moments when
on Sunday forenoon, I used to walk to my
aunt´s house, we smoked cigarettes, drank
coffee and ate coco macrons.
On my walks I will only see young faces of
a new generation who has not in common
with me, and it will sadden me to see old
building torn down and replaced with new
shining office edifices ….And I will take
the first plane back to Portugal where my
elderliness is not a handicap.
A lady’s dilemma
Her mind and body are restless
she is in her late-middle-age
a difficult time for a woman.
Her long relationship with a well-off man
has made her economically safe
but she is bored
thinks there has to be some more
before she loses her looks
and disappears into elderliness.
She has grown up with children
they don´t need her as much as before.
A part of her also likes to be settled
married and have a home of her own
She is also worried about her legacy
be sure her children
have something to remember her by.
There is something hectic about her
like time is running out
She might seek solace from her turmoil
in another man’s arms.
She is in a dangerous time of life
I hope she chooses the right path.