I Didn't Want to Grow Old...

I didn’t want to grow old.

Didn’t plan on it.

Well, I wanted to live forever,

Of course.

But grow old,

What is that?

Retirement, grey hair?

Ok. Big deal.

It’ll happen – some time.

Just not now.

But…

It did happen.

Not the shining, shapley

Happy silver slicksters.

Sitting in matching

Clawfoot tubs.

Grinning like teens.

I mean, ok,

For some people

Maybe that is their world.

Mine is different.

It includes aching joints

And no energy.

Muscles that rebel,

Skin that won’t snap back.

Eyes that dim.

A back that doesn’t bend.

A leg that drags,

A waist that is missing.

Ears that forget to hear

“N’s” and “S’s”

Growing old happens to everyone

I thought,

But not me.

I would run and leap,

And dance and travel.

Money would flow,

Fun would be around every corner.

But that isn’t what happened.

What did happen

Was learning

A new kind of wisdom.

A new kind of rhythm.

Seeing the world with gentler eyes.

Loving the quiet things,

The little things of every day.

The gold of a grandchild’s hair,

The flash of a yellow butterfly,

The surprise of a soft brown rabbit.

The joy of a purring cat,

The hush of distant rain on fog-shrouded mountains.

Growing old

Slowed me down

Long enough to see

With new senses.

A world that was blurred

By youth’s speed and indifference,

By middle-aged worry and struggles.

But growing old

Slowed me down

Just in the nick of time to see

A world smaller, perhaps,

And more intimate.

But a world that was always there

Waiting to finally be discovered.