we tend to fear old age
as some sort of disorder that can be cured
with the proper brand of aspirin
or perhaps a bit of Ben Gay for the shoulders
it does of course pay to advertise
one hates the idea of the first gray hair
a shortness of breath
devastating blows to the ego
indications we are doing
what comes naturally
it’s almost laughable
that we detest aging
when we first become aware
we want it
little girls of four or five push
with eyes shining brightly at gram or mommy
the lie that they are seven or eight
little girls at ten worry
that a friend has gotten her monthly
and she has not
little girls of twelve
can be socially crushed
by lack of nobs on their chests
little boys of fourteen want
to think they want
a woman
the little penis that simply won’t erect
is shattering to their idea of manhood
if perhaps they get a little peach fuzz
on their faces they may survive
adolescence proving there may indeed be life
after high school
the children begin to play older
without knowing the price is weariness
age teaches us that our virtues
are neither virtuous nor our vices
foul
age doesn’t matter really
what frightens is mortality
it dawns upon us that we can die
at some point it occurs we surely shall
it is not death we fear
but the loss of youth
not the youth of our teens
where most of the thinking took place
somewhere between the navel and the knee
but the youth of our thirties where career
decisions were going well
and we were respected for our abilities
or the youth of our forties
where our decisions proved if not right
then not wrong either
and the house after all is half paid
it may simply be that work
is so indelibly tied
to age that the loss
of work brings the depression
of impending death
there are so many too many
who have never worked
and therefore for whom death
is a constant companion
as lack of marriage
lowers divorce rates
lack of life
prevents death
the unwillingness to try
is worse than any failure
in youth our ignorance gives us courage
with age our courage gives us hope
with hope we learn that man is more
than the sum of what he does
we also are what we wish we did
and age teaches us
that even that doesn’t matter