The Discipline of Aging Well

The discipline of aging well
requires, that we fully live.
One's energy, whose peaks now spell
the true new normal days to give.

When parked on some day's sofa rest,
I sleep and dream, and wonder "Why?"
Could not I sing, and thus be blest
through fa, sol, la, ti, do, and fly?

Forgetting, that I'm not still young,
I run, and push, and do as did,
until my body gets quite hung,
awaking, Charley horse to rid.

The old adage is ever new,
"The mirror gave me quite a fright!"
While wondering at this face I grew,
the calendar takes a big ol' bite.

Would someone tell that staring man
a teenaged heart still beats inside,
just not the ticker in the chest,
nor this old house, that creaks and slides.

Someone may find a poem that
sounds mostly like this one, here.
I write to tell you where I'm at,
and more each day, it becomes clear.

I need a wondrous coffee cup
to start me on my weary day,
and peanut butter wakes me up
to clean these toilets, come what may.

The second cup before I work
is necessary. Oh, how true!
A Q.A. is a needed clerk
to make the bathroom nice for you!

Retirement's not soon enough
to focus on some novel thought.
The change from mop to pen is rough
until Best Sellers can be bought.

But even then, when working's done,
the heavy-lifting, physical kind,
I'll need to move, so Life is won,
the keep-on-going, wonderful find.

So, Staring Man, I see you're there,
still filling up, that shiny glass,
but youthful me with grateful hair
remembers, that "this too shall pass."

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(II Corinthians 4:17-18, KJV)

Line Count: 44

by Jay O’Toole
on September 13th, 2023