Growing Old

By Marilyn Carnell

Aging is not for sissies
It may beat the alternative
But the price you pay
For one more day
Is higher than you think

Your eyes start to blink
You leak like an old sink
Your teeth may ache
So you take pills to make
things tolerable

Your arms grow too short to hold a book
Where you hope to look
At life more brightly
Others comment on how spritely
You are
You know it’s a lie
But you don’t want to cry

So you consider a drink
But soon you think
If you go on a bender
Your family would say “send her”
To stay in a place far away
Where you find it is only
Designed for the gray and lonely

You know to pretend
You are not nearing the end
And are pleased to live so long
But it is hard to sing a song
Of gratitude
So you fake a cheerful attitude
To reassure your loved ones
That you are fine, just fine

©March 2023 Marilyn Carnell