We have put on the costumes of old people
adapted so well to them
squirmed and squeezed into shapes
become disproportionate with waists bulging
shoulders hunched,
worst of all the tight masks that say grin and bear it
and the misery so great we need to share it.
The young in their fresh skin
do not get a look in, nor would they wish to
except in rare moments of curiosity
or disbelief as they never see
what we are hiding underneath.
Welcome Jennifer to my humble poem. I agree about the perils of invisibility. Been there and still doing that. All the best Ray
Nice one yet again, Ray! Agre with MCN that sometimes it is amusing to be invisible. Find a big problem is if one inadvertently passes a shop window and sees an old trout in it, then comes the appalling realisation that it is yourself!
Thanks for all your interesting viewpoints, obviously I touched a raw nerve with the oldies in particular! We deserve respect, but it has to start within us, a difficult task sometimes . It's lovely to see how your individual sensibilities have risen to the comments. That's Keith, Mark, Stephen, Graham, John and Uilleam for the psychological support !
And thanks for liking the poem Aisha and Poemtheart.
Ray
Wed 15th Mar 2023 18:35
Ouch my knees!
Thanks for this insightful piece Ray.
Hahaha! JC I suppose you’re right. There’s always a few dandelions amongst the roses
A beautiful flower, Graham? Who are you kidding?
The odd thing about these costumes, Ray, is not just how they look but how they ache when you wear them.
We are all but once beautiful flowers waiting to keel over in the vase! I find myself looking (in a proper manner) at young beautiful people and silently thinking 'if only you knew how lovely you are'.
Birth and death are separated by a mere blink of one's eye!
A good thinking write once more Ray. Bravo
Uncomfortably good, Ray. My brother recently expressed concern that he had bought an 'old man's zipper jacket'. Mind you, yoof is high on bulges in the obese west now, and their clothes can really cause alarm. One less notch on the belt, I reckon......
Shakespeare and Yeats also had something to say about age
and its downside. But I rather enjoy being either invisible or
viewed with a certain polite detachment that sees smiles of
encouragement, with doors being held open and folk stepping aside for me and my two trusty walking sticks.
As I read these words I recall a dear lady friend who often used the expression, "I may look stupid but it's only the way they dress me".
Thank you for this
Keith
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M.C. Newberry
Thu 3rd Aug 2023 22:42
Ha..,.Jennifer. Your comment brought back the memory of my
late brother's impatience at seeing an old man in his way and
realising with alarm that he was looking at a reflection of himself
in an adjacent angled shop window. You have to laugh, don't you? 😊