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Post by Reilley on Mar 11, 2014 12:30:55 GMT -6
In my youth I did not plan on needing this body for this long, so I drove it like a getaway car I was planning to leave in flames on the side of a highway.
I treated it like the cabinet under the kitchen sink and filled it with enough chemicals to keep a stadium clean well into the next millennium.
Getting old was never on the agenda. I never expected to outlive so many people in my life, including friends and relatives who were a lot nicer to themselves then I ever tried to be.
I thought my starving and hearty demons would consume me long before theirs would. As it turns out, mine had no need for my life only my bankrupt soul.
Growing old was not on my bucket list. Nowhere in my my wildest dreams did it occur to me that I would live long enough to meet her, my wife, and my perfect woman of those wild tempest-tossed dreams.
If I knew that she was going to be there, waiting for me like an angel at the gates of Heaven, then I would have tried harder to make it this far in better shape.
I had never imagined that I would be in love, that I would want to stick around to see what happened next. Never assumed I'd be worth a damn once I got to this point. I never thought I would look forward to looking forward, to see tomorrow.
I simply never thought.
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Post by eiken on Mar 11, 2014 13:17:42 GMT -6
Reilley, So thought provoking, you leave me here wondering how old you are, what shape you are in and how wonderful that you met someone who you love and who loves you back and that you look forward to looking forward, way to go!! A beautiful poem and I wish you and yours years of wellness to enjoy together.
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Post by Brigid Briton on Mar 11, 2014 23:19:39 GMT -6
Hiya Reilley, A lot of humor here mixed with regret. I seem to always find one line in each of your poems that I simply adore. (Not to say I don't like the rest!) In this one it's: "Growing old was not on my bucket list". It would make a great three line poem (some might call it a haiku), all on its own: Growing old was not on my bucket list. Unlike eiken, I get the feeling that this piece is not necessarily autobiographical.
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Post by Reilley on Mar 12, 2014 8:00:24 GMT -6
Thanks guys, It is more of an exaggerated biographical, Brigid, I did abuse my body with recklessness and chemically induced happiness in my youth, but I am not quite broken down yet. Eiken, to answer your question, I am 51, semi-arthritic, creaky and groaning, but not near as bad as the poem suggests. The love part is real, and I do kind of wish I had thought more about growing old while I was still doing it, things would be different now.
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Post by Brigid Briton on Mar 12, 2014 8:14:23 GMT -6
Ah, Reilley, my boy, you are but a wee lad, compared to certain other people around this thread! I'm certainly glad you decided you're a rather worthwhile and likeable fellow since that's exactly the way I feel about you. Great minds thinking alike again ...
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blackbird
Newbie
Is it enough to have the desire for greatness to be great?
Posts: 34
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Post by blackbird on Mar 12, 2014 23:37:27 GMT -6
I do very much like this poem. You have totally captured the way my father has been feeling, the reason why he made all of us kids (there are 5) beautiful clocks that chime, along with a letter that warns of the inconsolable, no excuses, impatient unkind hand of time. Every time it chimes we are to think about our life, ask ourselves have we done all we can? Anyhow, I related to this, I know my father will relate to it, and I intend on sharing with him tomorrow. Thank you for that, he loves to make us think. I also want to have t-shirt made for him that says...~procrastination...the thief of time~ I dare say at 51 you may be jumping the gun on wrapping it up, take yoga cut out unrefined sugar and you'll be having to wait for your lady friend in order to sweep her off her feet.
oh....and I love your picture, quite distinguished.
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Post by SweetSilverBird on Mar 13, 2014 14:33:37 GMT -6
Hey Reilley, dear friend. <hug> You are still in the prime of life! Good for you! I didn't really start living till I reached 45! Every part of life has something worth living for in it. I'm so glad you found love. Love will keep you young. The poem is good, and well formed. I found it a little dry at the end, but considering the subject, it must be so. Remember, "Non, je ne regrette rien!"
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