Secret Of Old Age Poem by Cheryl Lynn Moyer Peele

(Published in Alabama Anthology 2007)

In worn overalls as patched
and thin as his shoes and
with a rusty bucket in hand,
he walked along the side of the
road. He was 74 years old
and carrying fresh cut collard
greens to his daughter's house
13 miles away.

Minnie who was 69 was
running off to work to take
care of an 'old woman' of 91.

Sarah was 82 and her mom 99.
They sewed quilts for a living
and were preparing for the
mother's 100th birthday party
soon to come.

I stopped to ask directions
from Georgia who was hanging
clothes on the line, she said
she was 105. She had cleaned
houses all her life.

So I asked her the Alabama
secret of old age:

Was it the slow living in the warm sun?
Was it the clean air or pure water?
Was it good food prepared by loving hands?

She smiled and said 'Yes, it's all that'

'But mostly........ it's the hard work'.

Then she hung another faded shirt
up on the line.


(One week in Greene County, AL 2004)