I have lived so long

A song for my mom.
It's not done but close enough to share.

I’ve been married for sixty-six years,

Sixty-six mostly happy years.

Sometimes I feel like I’m spinning my wheels

Down a one lane road called time.

I remember dead relatives and friends,

I hear their voices in my head

But I can’t remember what you just said

And that makes me so sad.

I have lived so long,

I once felt so strong

Like I controlled

My own destiny.

I watch my husband shuffle around

He recently slowed down

He’s almost as slow as me

Yeah, but at least he’s on his feet

We read the papers every day

And we watch the news

We sometimes have different points of view

But he knows I’m always right

So he doesn’t put up much of a fight.

I have lived so long,

I once felt so strong

Like I controlled

My own destiny.

I have always loved my kids

Despite some of the things they said and did

And what I might have said to them

Yeah, I sometimes went too far.

I hope I didn’t cause too may scars.

Now I feel like I’m on a steady march

To the point where by death do we part

But that’s all right with me

Yeah, that’s all right with me.

I have lived so long,

I am so strong

I controlled

My own destiny.

Love that good old rock and roll

It’s good for the soul

Yeah still love that rock and roll

Uh huh,

Poem about writing a happy song

I keep trying to write a happy song

but my thoughts keep having the wrong

feeling.

I’m trying so hard to be funny

but my words are gray instead of sunny.

I wish I knew why

'cause I look at the sky

and see blue, there's  just a few

white clouds

floating near the sun.

Big sigh,

Why, oh wy,

can’t I write the words that describe

the smile in my heart

I thought it was me,

then I thought it was you.

Now I realize we never had a clue.

Happiness came,

Happiness went

Like the tide rolling in,

Then out it went.

Not funny,

Not sad.

It happened,

I'm not mad.

'Cause I’m who I am

today

because of all those yesterday’s.

And that makes me soooooooo

HAPPY.

Freedom is a happy place to be.

In honor of my state of mind

I’m trying to write a happy song.

I’ll try again to write a line

that will make someone smile,

maybe laugh.

Try to write a lyric that’s clever,

just quirky enough to be brilliant.

Happiness comes,

Happiness goes.

Like the tide rolling in,

Then out again.

Such a heavy thought, but just science.

Gravity pulls you down,

Happiness picks you up.

Words can jump all over the place

All I want to do is put a smile on your face

When I sing this, my happy song.

Maybe even do my happy dance.

Trying so hard to write a happy song,

funny, bounce, dance, jump.

Drop the literal, drop the angst,

Pick up the tempo,

C’mon take a chance.

The jokes on me, maybe it’s on you,

It’s the frown upside down

That can give you a clue.

Trying too hard, maybe just let it roll,

Drop a line and sing.

Pretend you’re so old

That it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.

Just keep that smile,

Laugh a little,

And liven up this space.

Why did the songwriter write a happy song?

To prove she could do it.

In other words,

Exactly why the chicken crossed the road,

To get to the other side.

Oh happy day.

Age is Relative according to Einstein

It's late and I'm tired so this is being posted without being proofread. If you see a typo or unfinished thought, let me know. 

“Wisdom comes with age,”

At least that’s what they tell you when you’re young

and supposedly foolish.

“Someday you will understand.”

Ha!

Babies seem pretty wise,

And they seem to understand how to get basic needs fulfilled.

They thrive when loved,

If they need something, they ask for it,

They express their emotions without reservation

and get frustrated when they aren’t understood.

Frankly, that sound like a lot of grown-ups I have known

and, these days, like some of our government officials.

So, what isn’t wise about infant behavior

when it is infants innocently behaving

Like, well, infants?

“Age is relative.”

A thought that I thought I understood

Until I researched it.

And got confused by the physics of it,

I loved physics class in high school,

but didn’t understand it then either.

Experiments were fun,

Memorizing formulas and figuring out which formula to apply to a test question,

That was torture and a losing battle.

I get gravity

And force

And other basic physics concepts,

That make perfect sense to me.

I.e., they are obvious.

But Einstein’s theory of relativity

When applied to age

Seems philosophical,

Phlosophy was my college equivalent of high school physics,

 enjoyed the class,

 But didn’t get most of what I read

 And my class discussed.

Age is relative to the person who is doing the aging.

People who are younger than me think I am old.

People older than me think I am young.

Not exactly an exact science, is it.

Einstein said that time slows down if you are moving faster.

I am at an age

Where  time seems to be moving too fast,

And I am moving too slow.

I just can’t see a way

To do everything I want to do

Before I really get old and won’t be able to do it,

And, no, that is not an ADHD time management issue.

I would love to move so fast that time would slow down for me

Like it seemed to do when I was a kid.

But as fast as I am,

I am slower than before,

and age is relative

and time is speeding up

I live in a state where everyone who goes to a bar gets carded,

which at first I found flattering

and then amusing.

I’m not sure anyone who is half my age could look my age.

Not unless they sat outside in sun, rain, wind, and snow 24/7, 365 days a year

From the time they could walk.

It took a lot of years for me to develop these laugh lines, forehead creases,

And thin my hair.

Luckily that came slowly.

Age is relative.

“You are only as old as you feel.”

Some days I feel every second of my age.

Most days I just do what I want to

And don’t think about it.

I don’t decide what I can and can’t do based on my age

I decide based on what I want and need to do.

“Act your age.”

I’ve never seen the point of that

Because I have no clue what it means.

If it means act the way you are expected to act,

I would say

That I should be expected to act

However the hell I want to.

It’s my life.

I’ve made it this far,

So I must be doing something right.