Growing Old

[cacian]

does it get easier or much much difficult as time goes on? do you wish you were younger?
and does your writing reflect recouping age by the bucket it is so ridiculous you wished we were dr who?

I personally think ageing is a natural process the less we desist and the more we enjoy but of course if I had to chose I would go back to being younger. that goes without saying of course:D

oh and DO leave a short piece about ageing/growing old :)

like this

growing old
is so told
the perfect bold
to say gold
gets better
with time
the longer it wares
and the more it bares
sparkles of another air
age is a value of fair

[Paulclem]

aching joints
stooping back
greying hair
crumbling mind
failing vision
buzzing lugs
grumbling tum
creaky back
squeaky knees

no really - it's fine.

[PeterL]

Some like it fast, but the wise like it slow,
If you want your wine fine, then take it slow.
Like Pinot Noir from Beaunne aged in oak
Well matured humans are smooth, flavors awoke.
Mind and spirit will also awaken.
In early years many are mistaken,
Thinking that old means thirty or forty.
Nay, the middle years are twenty to ninety.
So middle aged do not be so haughty
Thinking you are young when scalp’s gone drafty.

And your soul shall ever be younger than last year.
And your body is cursed to constantly repair.
Today’s creaks and aches will be vague memories
When your immune system finishes repair.
Like great movies will be your memories.

[YesNo]

There was a wizard once who knew
The way to let what's timeless through,
Transforming what we thought was true
Into a lovely show.

He hinted there's something to do
Then we could be like wizards, too,
But now I'm old, I hope what's new
Just lets the warm love flow.

[Emil Miller]

The passing years, the days, the hours
Declining fortune,will and powers
Experience begins to weigh
Upon the spirit heavily
And we no longer wish to play
The game of life so cleverly
As once we did when we were young
It seems that every song's been sung
But hey! What's all this crap about ?
No need to be a dull old trout
There's plenty left to still enjoy
And one thing I will tell you boy
Just give the gloom and doom a miss
And simply get a load of this:

http://youtu.be/gFG716v7JS8

[mal4mac]

Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

[free]

Growning old
As personal experience
Is not the same
As watching it happen
With someone else

You never grow old
It is only your body
That changes
And the behaviour of others
Towards you

If your mind is too much
Identified with your body
Then, yes, you do grow old
Otherwise
You only grow wise

[Mohammad Ahmad]

Growing old
By no means can hold
So what you told
Is just perfect mold
For what do you fear?
Life cannot wash out our tear
Unless we understand its paragraph,
Still we are incomplete staff

[cacian]

very nice reads indeed :)

old or new
who cares
for
we are through
and that is rare :D

please do tell more about growing old.
a good or bad experience?
are you happy to reveal your age for example?

[MANICHAEAN]

Old age pension, meals on wheels,
Must be life's final lap.
The Golden Oldies all around,
I'm sure it is a trap.

Must get myself a younger wife,
With homework I can help.
If it will help me pass the time,
No need for me to flap.

[mal4mac]

Too tired to complete the last line

I took for myself a younger wife,
But she was nothing but trouble and strife;
Too demanding in bed,
She spent all my bread!
I'd be better off dead.

[mal4mac]

Wisdom of the old?

That old bloke is wrinkly and bald;
And has great wisdom, I'm told;
But with a shoe on his head,
And a pissed upon bed,
I'll keep my reservations on hold.

[mal4mac]

Enough with the Limericks! Here's Dylan Thomas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRec3VbH3w

[YesNo]

They used to card me at the bars,
Sometimes not let me in,
But now nobody seems to care
No matter how I dye my hair
Or moisturize my skin.

They seem to know that I am old,
Much older than they are,
Although I'm sure I'm still alive
And feel as young as twenty-five
When I sit at the bar.

[Emil Miller]

Now content to stay at home
With from bookshelf taken down
Some dull but worthy tome

No more to go out on the town
Among the passing throng
But wearing an old dressing gown
Reclined on a chaise longue

Why be be a clot? forget your age
Ignore the plot, finish the page
And switch on to King Kong


http://youtu.be/irdYyGaYzno

[Whosis]

If it's mind over matter, things probably get easier, but growing old sucks for the body.

[mal4mac]

Fantastic, positive, new poem by Clive James is relevant to this thread. (You can hear it read by Clive in the last ten minutes of today's Today programme, Radio 4) Here it is in writing:

http://www.clivejames.com/poetry/sentenced

I love the last three lines:

Now I am weak. The sky is overcast
Here in the English autumn, but my mind
Basks in the light I never left behind.

I like the idea of 'basking in the light' better than 'mind over matter' - it sounds more relaxing! There's also the sense of still being able to do the important things just the same as always (reading literature!)

[YesNo]

http://www.clivejames.com/poetry/sentenced


The following is based on the meter used in Clive James' poem with slightly different rhyme scheme.


Growing Old in Warm Weather

Too old to care about the coming moon
I walk the streets and wait for night to be.
A storm will calm the heat this afternoon
Then rain refresh. I see it's coming soon
Collapsing from potentiality.

Who's thinking this stuff up? I'd like to know
Who keeps the empty atoms on the run?
I kick my toe against the tree to show
Me that it still feels solid even though
I hear we're all a wave pushed with the sun.

I hear a lot of things. I make-believe
Preferring to be free than simply caught.
Tomorrow? It's too late. I won't perceive
Nor will I care, nor spend much time to grieve.
Right now? It's good enough or so I've thought.