Thursday, December 9, 2010

WARNING

WARNING


By Jenny Joseph


When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens

and learn to spit.


You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

and eat three pounds of sausages at a go

or only bread and pickles for a week

and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.


But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

and pay our rent and not swear in the street

and set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.


Copyright Jenny Joseph

http://www.wheniamanoldwoman.com/pages/348544/index.htm

________


Today I am wearing purple -- and I have a red hat, though I am NOT wearing the hat today. (I am just practicing!)


The first time I read this poem it made me smile. Shoot, it made me smile today, too. I hope Jenny Joseph forgives me for reprinting it here without her permission.

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