Those of us who’ve reached the age
Of “senior” status know
That many things are different from
The days of long ago.
Yet we remember how it felt
To be a child or teen
Or young adult or middle-aged
And all the years between.
For looking back is easy; we had
Energy to spare,
Youthful bodies, unlined faces
And a head of healthy hair.
Those of younger age, however,
Cannot ever comprehend
That they’ll lose the version of themselves
On which they now depend.
They are rooted in denial,
Thinking they won’t ever be
Someone looking in a mirror
And not liking what they see.
So the “wisdom” of the old, then,
Is you can’t avoid your fate.
Aging’s guaranteed to happen;
Don’t believe it? Just you wait!
LONE LADY
At corner of room sitting on a stool,
Lone lady leisurely knitting wool.
Has society left her as old fool ?
May be her hobby or just time to pass.
Nothing to do in senior status.
Last phase running idle, oblivious.
Enjoyed life, completed her duties.
Too tough just to drag dull life in eighties.
Now her life runs without activities.
Received appreciation at random
Always engaged to work in broad spectrum.
Once no scope left to feel little boredom.
Now all achievements turned obsolete.
In new era seemed herself most unfit.
Depression continuing ! How to defeat ?
Feeling sick being without family.
Failing to overcome melancholy.
Kids far away! No way, staying lonely.
Pic 2. Old woman knitting.
I sat by the television today. Bored out of my mind I must say. I appreciate that I have senior status not as if it really matters. But when the television announcer place me as and old person. How time flies. I was just appreciating being a senior. Oh well tempus fugit.
The supermarket calls itself
A “Senior-Friendly” store.
I read the sign and now I wonder
What it’s really for.
Do other shops mistreat the old?
Get nasty if they’re slow?
And how, in this establishment,
Does senior-friendship show?
Perhaps employees push the carts
Of those who look “of age,”
Though senior status often’s not
An easy thing to gauge.
Or maybe certain items sit
On all the lower shelves,
So prunes and other “senior” foods
The old can reach themselves.
I might just stop inside to check
This “Senior-Friendly” place,
But if they’re extra-nice, I’ll wipe
Their smiles right off their face!
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.