I See My Friends Aging

I see my friends aging
Slower in all they do-
The wrinkles and the hesitations before not remembering,
The difficulties in things done so easily once-

I see my friends aging
Sicker and sadder
Their eyes in some strange distance-

Some of them courageous
With plans and trips and grandchildren,
Endlessly going and doing
And being the best they can-

I see my friends aging
And wonder how long I too can pretend
Its still alright-

At this time of life
Time is cruel

[...] Read more

poem by Shalom Freedman
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The old is with lust unspent

Elders rather than lads are thirsty of women.
Elders’ desire accumulates for want of drain
Owing to their sagging physical energy.
The old is always a threat to young women.
06.10.2000

poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Sure I'm for helping the elderly. I'm going to be old myself someday.

quote by Lillian Gordy Carter
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Almost all my middle-aged and elderly acquaintances, including me, feel about 25, unless we haven't had our coffee, in which case we feel 107.

quote by Martha Beck
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Sure i'm for helping the elderly. I'm going to be old myself some day.

quote by Lillian Carter
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Bible Stories: The Story of Susanna

Susanna was a beautiful dame,
Daughter of Hilkiah;
Her parents had a righteous name,
In Mosaic laws reared, yeah!

A rich man, Joakim, married her;
They lived in Babylon;
Susanna led life in Lord’s fear,
And children too were born.

Adjoining her husband’s big house,
There was a garden fine;
Because Joakim was reputed,
Jews came to meet and dine.

Two elders made new judges then,
Came home with their law-suit;
Joakim was honorable man,
They came to see him oft.

[...] Read more

poem by John Celes
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Of oil, wine, and friends, the oldest.

Portuguese proverbs
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The oldest theory of contract is I think negative.

quote by Frederick Pollock
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Maturing to Grow

Maturing to grow,
Upsets those getting old.
And this some show.
Hoping an aging slows.
As they regret,
Seeing those mature...
With an aging that shows.
While those who grow old to mature,
Are not upset by this process at all.

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I get all fired up about aging in America.

quote by Willard Scott
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I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

quote by E.B. White
Added by Lucian Velea
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Past is dust.

My childhood was not aware that
My adulthood would later mock at it.
My adulthood was not aware that
My old stage would mock at adulthood.
My senescence will be mocked at
By my soul. Every past is dust.
07.06.2004

poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Along The War Avenue Of honour

Along the war Avenue of Honour a plaque to a dead soldier nailed to every tree
Brave young men who died in battle their reward for their bravery
They died in the war said to end all wars in the killing fields of World war one
But many wars since and far too many bloody battles and peace in the World not yet won.

Wars started by silly ageing men who send the young for them to die
Ageing men who themselves will die of old age and their twilight years they will enjoy,
ageing males heroes of their people we honour cowards as heroes one might say
The young men will go to war for them and the young men with their young lives pay.

The war supposed to end all wars long over almost nine decades since have gone by
But many wars have been fought since then and war pilots dropp their big bombs from the night sky
But suppose that's what will always happen when we give all of our power away
To silly and ageing male war men who with hair dyes cover their gray.

Along the war avenue of honour long dead soldiers names on every tree
Young noble men who died in battle far from homeland and family
In what was to be the war to end all wars yet we don't have much wisdom to show
For the loss of so many fine young men well over eight decades ago.

poem by Francis Duggan
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The older you get the more you understand what you're doing.

quote by Edward James Olmos
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In 1975 I decided that there was no future in flying (airline jobs were impossible to get, and who wants a job where you are judged only by seniority?) and headed off to grad school.

quote by W. Richard Stevens
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Getting atop

To attain atop in a set up,
Where seniority counts,
Is very much analogous
To reaching a ticket counter
By standing in a queue,
With no extra exertion involved.
11.08.2004

poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The first is middle-aged forgetfulness of the fact that they themselves are no longer young. The second is youthful ignorance of the fact that the middle aged are still alive.

quote by Jessamyn West
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Ancestral Woman

I was never child
My maternal granny called me an old, old soul
I seen time come and go
I gave birth to giving birth
Ain’t nothin I don’t know

The sun is my shade I pull it down to allow darkness and light
To give birth to the same day, the eternal now

Then, you ask me, as woman
Then, you ask me, as a colored woman
Then, you ask me, as a female
Then, you ask me, as a black female
Then, you ask me, as a Mother
Then, you ask me, as the epitome of androgeny

What is my contribution, evolution ain’t as old
I been in the grave, beyond the grave
I been the grave, I had to brave the newness of oldness

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poem by Josephine DixonBanks
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The Knell Of Our Love

The things we all wished for,
The storm came and take away,
Was it the work of nature,
Or maybe the schemes of your hands,
Such insinuations thwarted everything,
Im a man gathering confidence,
Let the elders ring the knell

The war I thought I could fight,
Yet the pain I couldnt sustain,
To be so adamant in all undertakings,
Blinded by my own surreal thoughts,
I have gathered my boldness,
Let the elders ring the knell of our love

I couldnt bring the stars for you,
But I could talk the stars for you,
To always see none like you,
But to receive you gave a few,
I waited in the long queue,

[...] Read more

poem by Gaylord Munemo
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Getting old is a fascination thing. The older you get, the older you want to get.

quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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