Long Retirement Poems
Long Retirement Poems. Below are the most popular long Retirement by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Retirement poems by poem length and keyword.
Beware of politicians whose active manifesto
Is always to speak ill of other candidates and opposition parties.
They are the real problems!
Beware of political goons and rumour-mongers, spinning allegations
Twining civil questions, yakking all day but never about
What they have done or can do. They have no vision!
Beware, my brother, of trillionaire politicians who only remember
The poor during campaigns and invite the press to a snap
Of a picture with a kwashiorkor in the slum. They are hypocrites!
Beware of politicians who make fabulous and illusory promises
Whose speeches are seasoned with oenomel to please and hype
History is a witness to their chronic failures and betrayals!
Beware of politicians who evade critical discourse and the press
At home like a mosquito bite but would run to the Chatham House
To seek an audience. They are no solutions!
Beware of desperate politicos defying every civil structure to rule
Bigots whose ploys for victory are religious and ethnic mantras
Kingmakers who want to have their turn on the throne.
Beware of politicians who make Aso Rock their retirement plan
Hall of fame, cashpoint, birthplace and right, their next career
A doctor or lawyer who could save a life or vindicate rights
Has become the Dionysius of our time.
Beware of politicians whose patriotism pulsates on oversea products
Trips to Harley Street, Burj Khalifa, bikini-infested Miami Beach
Back home, they vow to tighten the laws and expand the cells
To make a great nation.
Beware, you goofs and poltroons taking up the squares for heroes
You moneybags, Kings of the jungle, sacred cows, powerbrokers
Plumed and brocaded with national honours, OON, CON…
Amid the chronic poverty and acute frustration.
Beware of kleptocracy, autocracy, gerontocracy, oligarchy, plutarchy
And amidst the hunger, ignorance, confusion, and frustration
Beware of vote merchants!
I sat and watched quietly
the shuffle of her feet,
the forceful lean upon the walker
and I wondered – how did it come to this?
Just yesterday she knew my name,
last week she appeared to be herself
and spoke clearly plans for the holidays
and I concurred – we’d travel to be with family.
Then in the night, the darkness came
it surrounded her in triumph,
unawares she called out to me
and there it was - the strangest feeling of not knowing.
She’s not that old, barely forty-eight
you know it’s the new thirty-one
when all the world lay at your feet
looking forward to retirement - never meant to come.
How many years lead to this
while we were planning futures and travels,
working hard and saving up
for years to share - then reality set in we were already there.
A view of Alzheimers from the outside.
More than 50 years ago, you went away and left us sad.
Our youngest was 9 months, and I was a 13-year-old lad.
You left us in good hands with a bold mother who was only 35,
and not once did we ever feel that we would fail to survive.
It is ever recorded in my personal book of history
that of your death, today is the 56th anniversary.
I remember it well, where I was, who I was with,
what I was doing, and the time of day it was when
the sad news came. On May 8 in '63 you were only 58
Walking canes and wheelchairs for you were not to be
You never knew retirement, social security, and Medicare
because longevity for you was not meant to be.
Your illness took its toll, forbidding you to grow old, leaving me and others
of yours with a hole in our souls. And like a stroll with a story written thereon,
you ceased to unfold, and as your life took its exit, your body grew cold,
and I have missed you since in ways yet to be told.
705AM582019PoSoup
The palace of love we built ~
when our blood still flowed very warm in our veins,
is now a crumbled castle —
its walls with peeled paints and decayed wood;
a jaded clock and faded photographs
hung with wry, decrepit smiles.
Now we both live as weary souls ~
on a ship abandoned on a dry dock.
Many layers of darkness and shadows
have blackened our joy,
since the flickering light from our unquenched fire
was blown out by the wind.
And so,
we are made to swim in an ocean
without fishes or turtles.
Our gardens are littered with leaves and petals,
blown aimlessly about by southern winds.
The love in our hearts is unthawed ~
stony, hard, and sturdy.
Yet,
decrepit is a weight our life has to carry —
the burden dragging back our feet.
It comes whispering out of a roaring crowd
and makes our cries
like a raindrop in a storm.
That,
despite being aged and frail,
we are also broken and battered by time ~
more or less, we are trees whose roots have died,
merely hanging on to life
with a long-stretched thread about to snap.
Contest: Decrepit Contest
Contest Judged: June 10th, 2025 6:26:00 AM
Sponsor: Constance La France
Placement: Second
Some days are diamonds
Some days are pure do-do
Today was a totally do-do day
I'm sure everyone has them every once in awhile
But mine are a lot more frequent than they once were
Is it my age that makes the difference
Or is it my retirement
Throughout my life, I have always been
A very, very active person
So to all of a sudden be without a goal
I'm lost in a sea of nothingness
The only activity my brain gets
Is poetry and that's not enough to sustain me
I need a challenge every day
I have one of those brains that constantly
Needs nourishing, to be challenged or it will die
I wish it weren't true
And I could just lie back in my easy chair
And watch the world go by
BUT... that's just not me!
I became familiar with intriguing chow in the army mess,
Tho' I savored their chipped beef and gravy I must confess!
But some of their culinary efforts left in my mind some doubt,
That my wily recruiter didn't know what he was talking about!
Invariably for lunch and supper much to my dismay,
They plopped a dollop of fruit cocktail upon my battered tray.
The sergeant grinned as he slopped some on my mashed pertaters.
Have you ever eaten fruit coctail mixed with stewed termaters!
The army must've had a surplus of orange marmalade,
And the meatballs would've made a formidable hand grenade!
One never asked about the ingredients in the vegetable stew.
On rare occasions steak was served, but it was tough to chew!
Troopers sat around a picnic table affair and elbows really flew!
Such atrocious language! At Mother's table that would never do!
Signs read, "Take all you want but eat what you took!"
Food dumped in the garbage can could easily upset the cook!
For Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners they put on a spread.
Those I savored but anticipated future meals with dread!
But in todays army "dining rooms", silver and chinaware prevails.
Why! I've heard they serve cordon bleu and even lobster tails!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired (© All Rights Reserved)
This poem pretty accurately describes "mess hall" conditions when
I first entered the Air Force in 1948. As years progressed, things
really improved for the better. They are called "dining facilities" today
and to dine in one is a special treat which I have done several times
since my retirement from the Air Force. It is true "dining" and lobster
tail, cordon bleu, steamboat round and such delicacies are de rigueur! If those foods are
not your thing, there is a soup and salad bar, pasta bar, ice cream bar, hamburger bar
and on and on. The decor compares to any fine restaurant. But I don't
begrudge our men and women in uniform one bit - they deserve the best!!
No, never retired,
Only refired.
Zooming down life's highway
With Jesus, the Life, the Truth, the Way
We've given our pact
To serve God with more tact
So make a "peep" and we'll find you
Multitudes, not just a few
Take a deep gulp of Living Water
Be refreshed, never falter
Receive the joy of salvation
The Lord of every nation
Are we old,
Shifting sand or gold?
Precious life has given wisdom
Many stories of the Kingdom
the sand cleaned out
The gold stout
Through the fires and the storm
Whether night or morn
We will rest and pray
Trust God every day
Fearless and love inspired
Never to be retired.
In this world controlled by the clock
we know nothing else but time
ever since birth knowing this in life
whether a watch or wall clock to chime
All of life whether school or in work
the alarm keeps us on one's toes
start and finish at the right time
never changes wherever one goes
That's where holidays are so good
you can run from time's restrictions
that life throws around your neck
having opportunity to flee life's frictions
Personally now that I'm retired
really appreciate living life so free
do whatever I like mostly timeless
looking at what I like all to see
Giving you time to relax so calm
enjoying life and do what you do
but time has it's purpose even good
look on in life give time it's proper cue
I met a woman, fell in love
She was a gift from above
Soon she became my spouse
We gathered things and set up house.
Some things were new without a flaw
Some were hand me downs from Ma and Paw
For some we saved nickels in a can
Some were bought on the installment plan.
Children came – a total of four
Two boys – two girls- no need for more
We managed to provide room and board
Did the best we could afford.
We moved around from house to house
On an adventure – me and my spouse
Gathering things to which we would cling
But we rarely got rid of anything.
Tables, chairs, couches, and beds
Cabinets and shelves taller than our heads
Mugs, pictures, and bells we did collect
Mementoes and heirlooms on which to reflect.
A man gathers a lot in over fifty years
And remembers many of them with tears
Many a thing still fills my house
But it’s not a home without my spouse.
She has a room in a retirement home
Care is provided and she cannot roam
I dreamed one day we would be old timers
But I never figured on Alzheimer’s.
Now I have a house full of stuff
Too many things - more than enough
The time has come to downsize
To an apartment in the high rise.
My children came one by one
Went through my stuff until they were done
One takes this and another takes that
And managed to do so without a spat.
Giving things away is a lonely task
My irritability I cannot mask
Gathering things with my spouse
Was more fun than cleaning out house.
Being adopted living in the country
an only child but knew sweet contentment
although had beginnings of a stammer
life was happy feeling no resentment
At the age of 12 there on my own
watching my football team for the first time
being given freedom at Kilmarnock F.C
felt good just there myself so like rhyme
To Blackpool in '77 for my first hols alone
really felt good driving my mini on route
eventful time there lost wallet and car
but found car ok, so had a nice ice cream cone
Have felt fulfilled at Scots Assoc. for Stammerers
providing support for those who stammer
appeared on Scottish TV in '87 in advert
this felt good control in front of the camera
The holiday highlight of my life
arrive in Geneva at 90f so hot
Switzerland breathtakingly beautiful
go Jungfrau high snow/sun you've got
Then om 2012 I took early retirement
to make me so happy and fully free
having time to be in the countryside
watching nature and all there is to see
Looking back thinking of one so special
my dear Christine one so special and true
many great times spent over our 32 years
it's been a real whirl all because we said I do!
(This being my 2000th poem, I thought it appropriate to look at highlights in my life I had forgotten about and how they had influenced my life.)