A Vintage Year Poem by NAYYAR SHABBIR AHMAD

I’m aged forty
And, therefore
Consider myself
Finally free

Yes
Free to do
Exactly as I please

I couldn’t care much
What I look like anymore
Whereas I did before

Nor do I give what I wear
Much of a thought
All that’s in the past

How I’m held in anyone’s regard
Doesn’t bother me one jot

I’m no longer embarrassed
Or self-concious

I pity the young
They still have to learn
To become themselves
Instead of their affected
Alter egos

But I’m over that hurdle
There aren’t any
Constraints on me

I’m finally-finally
Totally free

As free
As free
As I’ll ever be.