#gettingold
You are young and curious
About how the world is round;
about the face and stories
How everything's connected
You are young and curious
Thinking what's outside the wall
How to love and be loved;
how life will push you around
You are young and curious
That's how you are planted,
From your roots the leaves grow;
you will learn what it feels to be neglected
And some day in your life
You will ask in that mirror behind
What ending it will be
For your story to be completed
Now old and contented
How your adventure constructed
Now peace lies beneath,
and it will never be awakened
Jun 27, 2020
Jun 27, 2020 at 11:22 PM UTC
Feelings of aging aches beginning
Creeping in
Creeping in
In morning high snapping
Of joints and bones
Accompanied by deeper moans and groans
My reflection stares back at me now
Whiskered face
Whiskered face
The puffy eyes not younger
The hair I had retreating
I surrendered the troops to a clipper working
I wonder if Dad felt this way too
Numb to time
Numb to time
Boys running circles
Around his life
Did he have time to enjoy the sunsets?
Jun 2, 2019
Jun 2, 2019 at 2:07 PM UTC
you said that aging is collecting ghosts
of everyone who enters your life and leaves
my collection, ambitious, I think of them daily
haunted by those I've loved and lost
May 8, 2019
May 8, 2019 at 12:23 AM UTC
One day I'll read this
And ask myself if it were true;
And it always will be,
Even if I can't recall exactly how.
Will I believe I was mean?
Spitfire with scorpion sting,
Gnashing teeth,
Breathing flames like a Phoenix fire?
Or will I be real?
Hurting inside like the rest of us
Insecure and flesh-rotting
Unbelievably happy, in spite of everything?
I'll try to remember
Mar 26, 2019
Mar 26, 2019 at 10:21 PM UTC
Remember when you were fifteen
And that boy at school was really keen.
He turned and looked at you in Maths,
Then distracted you from paragraphs
By the way his eyes look when he laughs.
Remember when you were twenty
And male admirers were aplenty.
Before the days of internet dating,
On fleek brows, playas and hating,
Checking likes to assess your rating.
Remember the days when you were thirty,
Evenings spent with nappies *****
Lack of sleep and funds were low,
Rarely out you'd get to go,
But baby love kept you aglow.
Remember the days when you were forty,
A bottle of wine the heights of naughty.
Tired after a long commute,
Buttons straining on the suit,
Teenage angst along to boot.
Remember the days when you were fifty,
Kids at Uni - must be thrifty!
Mum showing signs of losing her mind,
Face shows the years have not been kind,
Marriage more and more a bind.
Think of all that's yet to come,
And hope that you will find someone,
Who reminds you of all the dreams,
You had in Maths at age fifteen.
Nov 28, 2018
Nov 28, 2018 at 3:05 PM UTC
Always looking out into the distance,
there is much beyond the window.
Today it’s dappled light, a reminder of Hopkins, from the days of childhood.
Childhood - what is that? So many memories, so long ago;
Getting old is not easy, so many friends ageing so quickly and more travelling beyond the distance, beyond the window.
How is it for me and my family and friends?
My own special mother?
Just heard some old ladies in the ferry say:
Oh, to be young again!
Indeed, to be young again.
@Tom Stodulka)
Jun 11, 2018
Jun 11, 2018 at 11:13 PM UTC
Hello everyone,
I'm so very sorry … I feel horrible doing this, but I have no choice. You see, I have published my first book on Amazon/Kindle! This piece (and many others) had to be taken down because they do not allow published material to be available online for free. (Go figure) I wanted to leave the shell of the posts because I felt compelled to leave all your helpful and loving comments. (Silly sentimental, I know), but I also didn't want to just have the pieces disappear without an explanation. I feel bad enough as it is!
I owe ALL of you so, SO much for all of your reads, love, and support. It was YOU that gave me the gumption to FINALLY get off my **** and publish! Thank you all for the warm comments, camaraderie, and encouragement! I will still be here, reading, uploading and just being the Rascal that I am. How could I EVER leave you guys?
The book is called “The Way I See It – FictionPhilosophySoul Food” and it will be FREE for the first few days on Kindle Select, so watch for it, if you are interested. I hope that you go and grab it. If you do, I would also hope that you find it worthy, you would leave me a good review. That will help me get in the public eye! Soon afterward (2-3 days or so), it will be available in paperback.
Find the book(s) here: www.amazon.com/author/jeff.gaines
Or find the book(s), and all about me, here: www.JeffGaines.world
Soon after, I also hope to have my first novel (a supernatural thriller), called “Wanderer” available as well!
Wish me luck!
Big, Biggest Love,
Jeff Gaines
Mar 27, 2018
Mar 27, 2018 at 7:00 AM UTC
You watch them implode a building that you helped build!
Mar 13, 2018
Mar 13, 2018 at 6:56 AM UTC
I really don't like the idea of growing old.
Don't patronize me with the alternative.
You know squat about that.
There's the smell of bleach and ****
And the lingering odor of soiling
Up and down the corridor.
There's the swish of mops,
And night comes early.
You say you'll visit, but when? You're busy with life.
I won't be seen at gatherings,
Perhaps a visitation for old friends.
The world should spin counter-clockwise
Before expelling me in its daily gyration.
I want a giant to hold me again,
And tell me I'm a good boy for eating,
For crapping in the toilet.
Soon enough, but you don't dare say so aloud.
Jun 23, 2017
Jun 23, 2017 at 1:00 PM UTC
There is a bird inside of my chest along with a violet.
I don't know how it got there but for some reason it won't leave.
I am constantly woke up by singing and random pecks.
At first it was nerve wrecking.
The flutter of tiny wings scrapping the inside of my heart.
I opened my heart by some chance wondering if it would fly away.
It look at the door and pulled the door back shut with it's beak.
Nestling itself back inside the violet.
I would go to the doctor but the first thing they would ask is if I've been drinking.
By some natural instinct it would a yes that comes out of my mouth.
A bird of a different color I suppose.
Memorizing her song in my heart.
I tried to peek inside and see exactly what she was doing.
But she just filled the cracks up with feathers.
I've tried not to grow too attached as the moment I do that is the exact moment that she would leave.
In doing so, I've grown very attached.
The violet now in full bloom.
To my surprise she hasn't left.
I wouldn't have it any other way
Feb 20, 2017
Feb 20, 2017 at 3:04 PM UTC
So today is the day
You thought about being old
Your prayers suddenly became real
You saw your Dad in the backseat of a car
Until you remembered he’s no longer there
My eyes were closed
But I was still awake
I saw only grey until a small hole appeared
Inside were tiny pink flowers on a window sill
Now I’m wondering what they were doing there
It’s come down to this
Everything is a sign
It’s not so much about enjoying myself anymore
I wanted to ask someone whose been here before
So I dug a hole just to see if anyone was there
Doing yourself a serious favor
Is trying not to think so much
The answers are the usual questions
I’m not dying young but which way is the door
I drove off I but gave money to a man over there
Jan 19, 2017
Jan 19, 2017 at 2:19 PM UTC
I'm growing old.
God don't plant in straight rows,
And weeds won't hear my temperate pleas.
But harvest comes, wailing like a freight train.
I thrive in the ghost town I built.
Regret crowds the crosswalks.
I wait for you.
Hurry.
Oct 2, 2014
Oct 2, 2014 at 8:17 AM UTC