I Wish You'D Only Tell Me Poem by Francis Duggan

I wish you'd only tell me that I look old and gray
That I am one of those blokes who has seen a better day
With a big smirk upon your face you say how young I look
To lie to you comes easy but I read you like a book.

When you tell me how young I look my ego doesn't grow fat
You play the game teenagers play and you're much too old for that
For one in his early thirties you've not reached the adult stage
But people who are like you don't ever come of age,

I wish you'd only tell me that I am past my prime
That I am getting on in years and losing out to time
You think when you say how young I look that I'll think you are my friend
But I'd much prefer you'd speak the truth for I know when you pretend.

I wish you'd only tell me that I've known a better day
For I am not so gullible as you smirk when you say
That I only look half my age you lie so easily
Yet the mirror on my bedroom wall always tells the truth to me.