Youth Contemplating Old Age
Leaving school exams to the past
We never wonder
How long youth will last
What will be our fate some day
When old age comes to stay
Youth procrastinated
And doesn’t doubt
The future
Will straighten things out.
(Age 100)
Some retirees do crossword puzzles to keep their minds and time occupied. At age 100 she started in earnest on poetry. She wrote on slips of paper, large and small. Eventually, I bought her bound notebooks to collect her writings, but still in every nook and cranny I found slips of paper with her writings. This poem had multiple versions; This optimistic version is my favorite.