Monday 6 October 2014

Old Timer's Lament

As I didn't start contributing to Two Shoes Tuesday until prompt 10, I thought I would include the first nine prompt words in this piece and allude to the 100th. As one of the older contributors do forgive me my sarcasm.



No illusions left
Someone please open the door
I fear I cannot

“Tell me your secret
It is very safe with me
Just what did you say?”

Hope is eternal
“If winter comes, can spring be...”
So the saying goes

I can’t walk in rain
So my eyes are damp with tears
I miss everything

Swim in the blue sea
Water makes me feel alive
Rejuvenate me

I remember shoes
But now I just wear slippers
I’ve no place to go

Centurion he
“Just who remembers me still?
My friends are all gone”

Image found at www.verysmartbrothas.com

10 comments:

  1. Poignant, and true.
    I especially like the second haiku.

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  2. Ah ha! I see you have joined the club.

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  3. hahahahahaha! The best! I love this! I may have to reprint it and post it in the office today!

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    1. silly auto correct... I wasnt laughing... its supposed to say AHHHH.... Its quite moving!

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  4. My husband's mother used to make the last comment in her last years. I've outlived all my friends. Such a lone existence.

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  5. It is true, sadly. I work with the elderly. Some of them really have nobody, and there is such a high resident to staff ratio that the staff pretty much has to treat it like they're going down an assembly line and fixing machinery rather than dealing with people.

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  6. I've always thought the saddest thing about extreme old age would be having no one around who remembers you when you were young. My maternal grandmother outlived her many siblings and almost made 100.

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  7. You outdid yourself not only in successfully combining so many prompts, but also in showing that you have a very real understanding of what it means to become aged. Ahh yes, too forgetful to worry about shared secrets, too hard to get around, and friends and family departing and leaving us behind. This getting old stuff, it's for the birds! I am not looking forward to it one tiny bit. The memory... it's already going... going... :-)

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  8. A very sad, heartfelt, yet accurate look at aging and the frustrations one feels. I loved every verse of this poem. The verse about the swimming in the blue sea particularly resonated with me. All my cares evaporate (rejuvenate) when I swim.

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  9. Very touching. I don't mind getting older---being old---but the last of your post hurts. If we live a long time there is no one to remember with. Sad.

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