Turning 80!

I’m so old

I’ve been told

What can I do

It’s nothing to you!

It’s day-by-day

Before I waste away

or live life one more day

For another day 

I can only pray

Is turning 80 a blessing or a curse?

Ask your best friend or your caretaker nurse

Or take a good long look in the mirror and think

Is my life daisies and lilacs or does it utterly stink

On this rare occasion I write this poem

Fingers dancing the keyboard at home

Searching for wisdom to truly explain

How I see myself at 80

while racking my brain

Nothing works as it did in the past

Everyone knows that humans don’t last 

I exercise, laugh and continue my fast

Compared to most, my life is a blast

Still I don’t want to become an outcast

But I’m blessed I’ve lived this long

These words I’ll stress 

My belief is strong

I want to make sense of this moment in time

But I struggle to convey these words in rhyme

I was once young and one 

My focus laser sharp

Now I’m sometimes 1, 2, or 3, or none

Looking at myself in different ways 

On different days

What’s this confusion?

Is this a delusion? 

When the light is strong and my face shines bright 

Everything looks old, nothing looks right

My scalp is bare where hair was there

To claim I look young, not even AI would dare 

When the light grows dim and even everywhere

I look so much younger, you just can’t compare

And then I paint my beard to purge the gray

Donning a baseball cap keeps the skeptics at bay 

I look and feel younger, that’s no cliché 

And another me is strong and agile

And another me is arthritic and fragile

Drugs mask my aches and the ravages of time 

But at 80, nothing can reverse the aging paradigm 

And another me feels like an anthology of labs

The product of blood work done after mucho stabs

Ouch, ouch, ouch, this REALLY pains me

Cholesterol, LDL, Triglycerides and Apoprotein B

So many tests for my doctors to see

Let me go home, please set me free

I worry muchly waiting for labs to get done

This part of getting old is totally not fun

My right foot is week, my left knee is bad

Celebrex make things better by only a tad

And my dancing worsens which makes me sad 

My right ear can’t hear, and my right eye can’t see

I have one broken tooth, and dribble when I pee

With all that I’ve said, I am still alive and well

I walk, dance, swim, ski and as often, lift a barbell

Considering my limits, I feel awesomely swell 

Except for the few times that I unexpectedly fell

When and then it felt like hell!

I forget more than I want to claim

I have no one else to blame

Exercise the body, exercise the mind

I should not need to have this remind

If I forget, please kick my behind

I love my life

I have no choice

To make do with the leftovers

I should rejoice 

At my age its best to 

Stay away from the news

Which is vile and depressing

Rather stay positive and ecstatic

And avoid being erratic 

This is worth expressing

Yes, this is what I’m stressing

And every day

That you can walk without pain

That you can remember your name

And not trip on the terrain

And not slip on snow or in the rain

And every day

That you can pee and p….p

That you can finish your chicken soup

That your tummy doesn’t droop

That you don’t behave like a nincompoop

Read on for the final scoop

Drink a cup of green tea

Eat blackberries and stay carefree

Laugh with your friends

Forget about the trends

Embrace the freedom 

To plan the rest of your day 

And to say and do it your way

And when you turn 80 like me

Write a poem for others to see

Think about why it’s good to be alive

Think about how you can prosper and thrive

And eat more blackberries 

Which will help you survive

AND SO I ASKED GEMINI TO SHORTEN and IMPROVE THE POEM - IT TOOK ONLY 2 SECONDS.......

At eighty years old, I’ve been frequently told,

That body parts weaken and stories unfold.

Is eighty a blessing, or is it a curse?

Go ask your reflection, your friend, or your nurse.

Nothing quite works as it did in the past,

But compared to the alternative, life is a blast!

Though when the light’s bright, it’s a bit of a scare:

My scalp is quite bare where the hair should be there.

So I paint up my beard just to purge all the gray,

And a tight baseball cap keeps the skeptics at bay.

One version of me is still agile and strong,

While the arthritic version is dragging along.

I’m an anthology of labs from too many stabs,

With doctors obsessing o'er medical tabs.

Cholesterol, readings, and Apoprotein B—

Ouch, ouch, and thrice ouch! Just please set me free!

My right ear is deaf, and my right eye is blind,

I forget half the things that pass through my mind.

My left knee is shot, and I leak when I pee,

But I still lift a barbell and ski carefreely!

So stay off the news, it is vile and depressing,

Count all of the functions you're currently blessing.

If you can still walk without pain in the rain,

And finish your soup, and remember your name—

Then drink your green tea, eat a fresh blackberry,

Ignore all the trends and resolve to be merry!

Embrace the sweet freedom to do it your way,

And toast to the triumph of one more great day.