Tuesday, November 07, 2006

when i am an old woman ...

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

when i am an old woman ...
i shall wear shocking pink

with a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me
and I shall spend my pension on frappucinos and reefers
and satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
i shall sit down on the pavement when i'm tired
talk nonsense to strangers 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 socks that don't match
and eat three pounds of curry at a go
or only bread and a pickle for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beermats 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 will 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 taken aback, surprised
when suddenly i am old and start wearing my shocking pink pants.

poem - originally written as
when i am an old woman i shall wear purple
by jenny joseph
image from geekphilosopher


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

my pants will be yellow...with butterfly prints..yeah!

hello there...past six here and I gotta' go to school!..ave' a great day..or night..:->

Anonymous said...

why wait? as i drift back into being eight years old, i remember how much i enjoyed wearing whatever i wanted whenever i wanted just because i knew how to tie my own shoes. - wch

Anonymous said...

Pink, purple, butterfly prints, ribbons in your hair, funn shoes, plenty of desserts...I think I'm very nearly ready to be an old woman!

As long as we never act like we're old! :)

Anonymous said...

lux - oh yellow. yeah. my husband remembers wearing yellow pants that his mother bought him as a teen - she thought they looked awesome. imagine, being like 14, a boy, in switzerland, where your parents hang out with anbassadors, and having to wear canary yellow pants. oh joy! ... haha i still tease him about it ... lol

wch - why wait, indeed? so true. regards to you.

mayden - yes - may we never act old ... ha ha.

Anonymous said...

hey, i know this poem from it's original version.

i like yours better.

will write soon.

last night i dreamed i was a maid.