Getting Older

I'm sorry to say that the pleasures of old age have been vastly over-rated;
It's just some hype defenders of the geriatric generation have purposely created.
If anyone has ever told you that old age is a piece of cake
I can assure you that believing it is a major mistake.
Longevity is not all it's cracked up to be, which you'll discover as you age
And you'll find that anyone who believes otherwise is on a different page.
Either they're sadly misinformed, or they're just pretending
Hoping against hope that old age is part of the happy ending.

I suppose there are some upsides to this depressing aging tale we all must face
Eventually...unless, of course, fate intervenes and, as the saying goes, we're in a better place..
That place being a subject we are often loathe to discuss because it's better left unsaid
For almost everyone likes to think they'll live forever...until, of course, they're dead.

Oh dear, I've said the unmentionable, the unthinkable, the inevitable word
And if it offends you, particularly those of you who are already aging, pretend you haven't heard
Or seen the offending word: dead; but we can eliminate the word and change it to, I suppose,
The non-living, the dearly departed, or those who have entered their sweet repose.

Moving on to less pleasant considerations, the mirror comes to mind.
The mirror, perhaps your friend in younger days, has now become unkind.
The face that stares back at you is no longer your good friend,
That mirror image reminds you that your youth has come to its untimely end.
But take heart, my aging cohorts, there's no need to fear
Losing your good looks because....alas, the worst is already here.

The main thing we all strive for is preserving or restoring our once good health
Because, as we've always heard, our health is more important even, than great wealth.
But wealth and health will only help if we give up the ghost
Of our past youth and yearnings for the things we loved the most.

And here's the lesson: what you really want when you're old are things that can't be restored
The first blush of love, the admiring glances and the events and people we once adored;
Most of them are gone, moved on, and now they belong to the distant past
And the ones that are still here find time is moving much too fast.
So our restored health or preserved wealth can't get you the things you've always desired,
And as for your hopes to get them back...those hopes have already expired.

A poet tells us, "..gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying"
But all our hopes for renewed youth are, my friends, now dying.
There are no words or thoughts that can help us embrace old age;
We have to face the hard cold facts, and turn life's final page.
But there are comforts, I've been told, though I can't think of one
Except that after darkness falls, there will arise the sun.

(One final thought, although it's cold comfort: the great American satirist, Ambrose Bierce once wrote that someone said: "It is true that as we grow old it is very little that we can get in this world; but in age it is very little that we want."

And Bierce responded saying, "THE LITTLE THAT WE GET IS NOT THE LITTLE THAT WE WANT" (Sob!! How true!!)