 | Soulfood - Aging | |
Vincent Van Gogh - Old Man
| Soulfood - Aging | |
| Warning |
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When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick the flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit. You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children. We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practise a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. ....by Jenny Joseph |
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Jitterbug Rap [A steady beat on the coffee table or the arm of your chair will help as you read this] |
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Come on you Grannies, get in the groove This old folks' world is startin' to move No more waitin' for the phone to ring No more huntin' for blues to sing You and I got plenty to do Just playin' catch-up will take a few Months of practice then we'll really swing Just like Benny or some Dorsey Thing. The more we sit, the more we grumble You'll feel like your hind end's caught in the rumble Seat of your boyfriend's old Model A Back in the thirties--that'd be the day. Forget about the old days? Not if you're smartest You can make new days--you're a new-day artist Take all the good stuff you know how to do Match it up easy with somethin' brand new. Surprise all the young bucks, enlighten your kids Show you've learned more than preemptive bids. Join a few classes, shake those tired limbs Go for a workout in broken-down gyms You'll fit right in there if you don't watch your step "Fit" is the right word if you're gonna be hep. Try a new hobby, tie a new fly Climb a small mountain just fifty feet high But get out and do it, don't sit there and rust Read a new book, help the old lady dust Walk at your leisure around the school track Then wait a few days before you try to go back Don't whine about Dentugrip, Maalox and Tums Call up your old cronies--those lazy bums Sprawled 'front of TV rotting away While you're out there having a wonderful day. ....by Frances Weaver I'm Not As Old As I Used To Be |
| Daisies |
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If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter than I have. If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies. ....by Nadine Stair, adapted from an essay by Don Herold Sherrie Lovler has a beautiful calligraphy creation of portions of this prose poem. |
| Autumn |
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Now the great green earth has turned to gold; and the fruit is gathered, and the grain is garnered. So may we in the autumn of life, mellowed by experience, grow rich in beauty and service, as the green of the earth and the grain of the field ....by Max Ehrmann The Desiderata of Faith |
| Journey's End |
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Have we learned wisdom in the great book of life, that we may have repose in age? Then let us not fear, that we may sit without discontent in the house of our narrow wanderings. Let us be patient with youth remembering that its joys and follies were ours also in cheerful yesterdays. When weariness overtakes us, may courage and gentleness forsake us not. When we despair in darkness, may we see a light before our faltering footsteps. Now are we thankful for our lives and for the abundance of the earth, for the moon and the stars, the sunshine and the rain, the fields and the woods. Above all, we are thankful for love. And at journey's end, the sun gone down, let us walk with smiling faces like travelers homeward bound. ....by Max Ehrmann The Desiderata of Faith |
| Senility Prayer |
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God grant me the Senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference. ....Anonymous (?) |
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