a taste of ‘Older’

182 writers contemplate ageing …

 

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I understand now why / things that puzzled me / when I was younger / make sense. from Getting Older by Jan Chronister

Back when she was a teacher – English Lit like Father – these hands grasped pieces of chalk and a wooden pointer. from Hands by Viv Aitken

Eddie just shook his head as he walked toward the backdoor to go outside and play baseball. I’m positive I heard him mumble “Loser” on his way out the door. from My Brother’s Adage by James Bates

Of course it is a club that none want to join, / and some try to deny their membership by / injudicious use of face-lifts and Botox from The Club of the Old by Nolo Segundo

Gallbladder gone. Appendix; excised. Brain tumor; expunged. Ankles; reconstructed. Knee; replaced. What’s left? from Yard Sale by Patrick Geraghty

… her small feet cradled by the hands / of a stranger who massages them from Pedicure by Jan Haag

Armed with little more than map and compass, / attired in rubber raingear and hand-built boots from Old women don’t hike by Janis LaCouvée

No ticker-tape parade, but our CVs will spontaneously / combust. As for me, my brain / might attune to wind chimes from 64 by Susan Gray

I have these hot flashes, and then it’s very cold. / I’ve become moody and unpredictable. from Natural by Maria Jackson

I was so confident of our strong foundations, it never occurred to me that we would not grow old together. from Once upon a time by Fran Prem

I see now how / she wanted the best for us from Miss Yonan by M.S. Rooney

I’ve been looking for my brain / the whole morning. I don’t know / where to start my day without it. from Looking for My Brain by Zhihua Wang

Indira surveys the food and nibbles here and there. “The rice is good,” she tells me. from Nightshade by Cheryl Snell

“I’m an independent cuss,” she said to anyone in passing. Her fierce, bold, and independent streak remained intact. from Fragile by Terry Chase

“Dad, what are you doing out here in the heat? Why does it smell like urine? What’s in that cooler?” from Navigating the 90s by Mary Janicke

a red and yellow floral set / I bought from Macy’s / the first year we were married. from Wedding Sheets by Beth Cash

She bakes a cake for her husband’s 75th. Coffee and walnut, his name picked out in white icing. from Twenty Minutes to Perfection by Bronwen Griffiths

Donald steps through to the kitchen, returns clutching a pair of glasses. “There, you’ve got them now,” his wife says. from Getting on a Bit by Jim Scott

I pick up the violently red bottle / And some new sandals. Sandals? A dollar? Really. from At the Dollar Store by Janet McCann

Helen’s apology for her indelicacy is obviously insincere. George is relieved. from Tisane and Chocolate by Tony Warner

Crispy leaves like skin that’s old / Wishful dreams fake fortunes told from Winter’s Dreams by Cathy Joyce Lee

He lives alone / which is for the best. from The Old Man’s Sardines by John Grey

Can you feel her pain? I know the type. She was my mother, and I tried all my life to be different from her. from The Type by Karen Beatty

I had been visiting that beach for sixty years. The seascape had not changed. from What I wanted to say by Allan J. Wills

My knees pain me and I walk on badly crooked feet / Not exactly handy for going down on my man from Lust at 70 by Suzanne Cooke

I emerged from the inertia of bereavement into the uncharted territory of retirement and set about tackling two daunting, impossible-to-rush tasks: from Breaking Up is Hard to Do by Barbara Rady Kazdan

She was revolted by the thought of being touched by hands that bathed in blood every day … from Old Maid by Cynthia Leslie-Bole

Twice a day she takes it for a walk. When he watches her slip the lead on the dog, he imagines a noose. from Kick the Dog by Emma Phillips

Instead, fearing muggings, / shadows, askew plans, / lost connections. from Subdivision by Heather Sager

“Everything looks good.” / “You still don’t need glasses.” / “Your heart’s in good shape.” from Octogenarian by Edward Ahern