Old

On By Mick CanningIn poetry, writing

God’s bones.

Cold stone skin covering

A hewn wooden ribcage that

Conceals a petrified heart.

A fossilised giant wallowing in a garden

Growing nothing but death.

.

We know we will get old

But it takes you by surprise all the same.

Perhaps we refuse to see the signs –

Unexpected offers of assistance,

A sudden inability to run for the bus and

A need to take more frequent breaks.

We become fragile,

And lose confidence in our abilities.

.

Perhaps we lack courage, but

Must we resort to this?

.

Really, only the young want to live forever.

Oh, the tedium of eternity

Where angels yearn for the peace of annihilation!

We have a choice;

At the end we have a chance to be brave.

18 thoughts on “Old”

  2. What a marvelous poem, Mick. I appreciated it in two ways: both as a meditation on the big life questions, and as a somewhat amusing reminder of how far past those first unexpected offers of assistance I am. Amazing what a difference white hair makes!

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  3. Hi Mick, this is an excellent poem. I have watched my husband’s grandmother age (she passed about 2 weeks ago at the age of 101) and I am watching my parents age (my mom is 84). For me, it’s more about seeing how hard it is for them to give up things they’ve always done because they just can’t do those things anymore. But, they do find new interests and activities to keep them happy and occupied.

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    1. Thanks, Robbie. Interests and activities – yes, so important. I was chatting to a friend a couple of days ago about retirement and we were in agreement about the importance of having interests and activities.

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  7. Ellie Carpenter's avatar Ellie Thompson

    I know I’m somewhat late in commenting on your poem, Mick, but I wanted to say how brilliant this poem is. I know I have said this before, but I think this one is one of your finest. Each time I say that, you surpass yourself yet again. This one truly resonates with me and is so well thought out that every sentence speaks to me. I particularly like your last verse, “Really, only the young want to live forever … … At the end, we have a chance to be brave.” All so true.

    I’d be interested to know what prompted you to share this poem, Mick? You don’t have to say; I’m just curious. It’s very well done.

    I’m trying to get back to my usual blogging posts, only from now, without the constant mentions of pain and accounts of various painkillers! I’m trying to get back to normal, although I still have a lot of pain (that dreaded word) – I can’t and don’t want to wallow in it forever, and I felt it was rather tedious for my readers to plough through all that. I’m also being more realistic this time in that I will try to keep up from now and not beat myself up for not reading all the past posts as well. I’m my own worst enemy sometimes.

    As always, I hope you and your family are well ~ Ellie X

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    1. Don’t worry about being late, Ellie. I’m having a busy few weeks at the moment and aren’t keeping up with things at all. It just means I have to miss a few posts I’d normally have read, but that’s the way things go.

      And that’s part of the reason I decided to post the poem. It was one I had finished and wasn’t planning anything else for, so when I decided it was time for a new post and I felt in rather a rush, I just reached for it. I’m glad you liked it, though. I came up with the line ‘angels yearn for the peace of annihilation’ and rather fitted the rest around it.

      And we’re all as well as can be expected, thanks. I trust your family are well and that you’re finally getting some relief from the pain you’ve just said you’re not going to mention!

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