The stones on the patio are weathered
and ground, and the door that creeks
welcomes. The ceiling was measured
for other times, other heights,
and the floor is used to heedful steps.
Old tables and chairs disarm fashion,
have a style of their own:
haute couture of past culture,
their vogue is vintage.
I can live with the broken vase
which was worth repairing.
It knows the meaning of longevity
and in it the cut chrysanthemum
refuses to fade.
Those pans were new once,
they knew once the taste of mint,
but since have aged and mellowed.
Noblest of all are those objects in wood
whose handles have felt
the favour of oft-use.
Their polish reflects the palm.
I favour the works of the past,
the time-worn customs and lore of folk
whose venerable hearts
know the meaning of bosom.
I am a collector of dents in copper,
of meaningful scratches in tin;
grooves, furrows and notches
that count the years;
and faint wounds
that objects keep hidden within.
Longevity
What endures in this material world?
What escapes the creeping hand of rust
Motheaten, our memories unfurl
The beauty of the rose lost in rose dust.
Hard gemstones splinter beneath time’s pressure
Mold invades the gowns sown of silver
The artist’s paint crazes, past their endeavor
Even the sun burns towards it’s fiery end.
For such a time as this each day comes
Facing wrinkles of time, starlight’s frailty,
Under the wind whipped, battered, labarum
The withering heart knows one true reality.
Only love never rusts, never ages,
Eternal, the dancing soul on Heaven’s stage.
Longevity
Living a
Libertine
Lifestyle is usually a
Liability when it comes to achieving
Longevity. However, one might be
Lucky to
Live
Long enough if they take a
Laxative occasionally to keep their systems
Lubricated and rid themselves of their toxic
Licentiousness.
Longevity Poetry Contest
Sara Kendrick
The war on aging is a battle
From a babies rattle
To the senior's canes
The longevity of life wanes
Good health stretches its wings
Bad health and the mortality swings
We would love to fly to the moon
Before the final breath is strewn
We would love to add more years
To be relieved of our aging fears
We would love to walk on air forever
But it's not a possible endeavor
The longevity of life is a planted seed
And it grows and blossom's and then cedes
That's life, and God's plan
There's no writing on the wall of ones span
There are the flowers to look forward to
And see ones life through
A silent grace sits on the silvered hair,
Lengthening the seasons to drawn out days,
Not only breath glitters in life’s deep stare,
But also treading through the world’s cold maze.
The tender spring blooms will soon surely fade,
And summer heat will in a while cool down,
But wisdom mustered in the serene shade
Will proliferate the world`s knowledge crown.
True longevity resides not in breath,
But in wise words that we share as a sage,
An age-long heritage that defeats death,
A shining spirit stretching beyond age.
Years are but the reflection of our pace,
While legacy lasts across time and space.
Best blessing of God is longevity
But life must be full of good activities
It's desirable to stay healthy, strong
Otherwise it's useless to live long.
Choose your path of life doing righteous
Necessarily not to be religious.
Keep yourself physically fit and fine.
It's mandatory for life if to shine.
Try to lift up your next generation.
Not to be self - centred, worth to mention.
If blessed by long life, make it perfect :
Great contribution, future may expect.
To wake and taste nothingness,
perhaps, is the cruelest feeling,
when ink craves to crease its lines
with truth that will not run
in recurring refrains
of a time-bruised routine,
where language reflects the lunatic
and words hold no weight.
Let the heart relearn hurt once more,
as the Reaper listens, loving
the pulse of my breathing sigh,
beholding me write longevity into the sky,
amidst iron syllables of steady seconds,
secretly savoring the stillness
of morning minutes that refuse finality…
Immersed in the current of continuity,
in love with the soul’s frequencies ~
I know my faith’s flame:
the rhapsody of a rose, unshaken…
Why do we fear the privilege of ageing?
In the same life we rush to escape infancy,
How can we reject the concept of changing?
In the same life we trade innocence for puberty,
The false sense of comfort, being stuck in your ways,
Has it ever contributed to the length of your days?
Repetition seems tedious and ever mundane,
Yet the catalyst for progress, for growth and for gain,
A mind that bends will for the endurance of pain,
A body that glides through the spectrum of strain,
To love and to laugh is to live and be sane,
But the joy of summer days short lived without rain,
So why do we dwell in the realm of the past?
When the realm of the present and future is vast!
Some goals intangible, we may never see,
One... of which, is longevity.
So I revel in being alive,
at the age of seventy four,
with no tangible boundary,
long and longer one does yearn,
for life’s garden of pure health,
my blossom, bloom, and bliss,
devoid of serious ailment,
that bristling spirit undimmed,
I still savour with such abandon,
verdant sights, scenes, sounds,
profuse vista, azure skyline,
wondrous rapids, bright streams,
tender love and human passion,
sheer late phase zest enduring,
my olden yet golden proud march,
year on year earthly nirvana
I wonder fierce of twilight's call
When day closes or so it seems
And wish that longer life be held
By sailing journeys deeply shrined--
Lengthier be seasons, I'll wait ,
For more dances of life...hearth's glee
My fervent hope that borrowed time,
Stretches wider than fate's design
Till last morn snuffs all heartfelt dreams.
9th Place
Longevity; longevity -
to think I used to long for that!
I wouldn’t want my nine lives more
if now I even were a cat.
My strong years are behind me now,
so which will give out next on me?
My messed-up neck; one of my knees;
a hip? Or will it be all three?
Degeneration I now greet
each day although I exercise.
But if I fall face to the floor,
I might require some help to rise.
When I was young, I felt so fit.
I thought a centenarian
I’d be, but even birds of prey
might pass me up as carrion!
Longevity; longevity -
I say it now with levity.
A life well-lived is life enough.
Let’s have a little brevity.
Time speeds away, ages added on to eons,
Piling changes on change, it moves on,
Seldom posing lull and loll.
With the current rushing swift and fleet,
We race past from old to new
From times primeval to times neoteric
Watching the ceaseless chain of births and deaths,
Tasting life’s vicissitudes of joy and pain.
In the unwinding circuit of time
How long is my sojourn here?
60, 70 or 100- that’s a man’s average longevity,
Does it mean more than a mere drop in the ocean?
Like the bubbling foam or the dying froth,
We appear uninvited and depart unnoticed,
Leaving no foot prints or monuments behind.
Between the rows of forefathers who exited out
And the countless progeny lining up,
I have squeezed a space to be a face in the multitude.
Does my longevity mean much?
No..! All that counts is how well I have lived here.
Life is a one-time blessing
Every effort made,must be pleasing.
Death is uncertain, it's a mystery
No one can comprehend, not even, in History.
Quit the sorrows,tension and stress
Be composed, never be restless.
To ensure a life worthwhile and long
Enjoy the little moments, get along...
Keep the soul pure and mind free
Hang out with dears and go on a spree.
Be in peace,spread it around
A peaceful crowd is sure to surround.
To ensure a life with no ailment
Possess the features that are salient.
A positive thinking, a graceful lifestyle
Is a life lived worthwhile.
Feel nature's beauty,express gratitude
Be thankful too,for the Bliss of Solitude.
He who outlasts others,being healthy
Is truly, rich and wealthy...
Written: May 31, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Sara Kendrick
Quote: "Longevity is not just the accumulation of shadows, but the slow, relentless design of light—where the soul learns to admire the skies." By Poet
8th place contest winner
Years of silence drift in shadow’s hold,
yet life’s glow cuts a furrow bold.
Ascetic patience mollifies time’s tide,
stringent suns succumb, shadows subside.
From a thick nucleus of recall, lyric streams,
etiology carved in incarnate dreams.
Furious storms rage, but sagacious roots remain,
visceral awe gleams through longevity’s pain.
A lingering oracle, sanctuary of grace,
fading walls surrender a sobbing face.
Even barren sand yields to mettle’s rule,
velvet dusk relieves the waning fuel.
And yet the human heart, steadfast and wide,
bears its banner forth—unswayed stride.
The cart of time carries me along the ordained path
from the listless life rooted in the threshold of present
to the desolate wilderness where I was once.
That’s the fading past receding away fast,
waiting to get abandoned and obliterated.
Lying in the shadow’s edge of the furtive future,
creating the convivial flood of copious craving,
inundating the lavish landscape of my ornate life,
I dwell in the fancy desire domain of perpetuity
with the deathless dream of delusive longevity.
I perceive the pulsating memory undying
reside in the remote recess of the passionate past,
where the beguiled bird of my love for life
soars in the seamless sky of my sensual present,
wings of hope flutter to fly past the future horizon.
I drift to the certain end with the immortal soul,
floating entranced in the sublime sea of eternity
with winds of love blowing on impermanent sail.
I yearn to get from the divine time for my life
the treasured magnanimous gift of longevity.
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