They wish me 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'
or even 'many happy returns of the day'.
My folks send me gifts and greeting
congratulating me
on a life that's fleeting?
A birthday complete with cakes in the color of my choice
Granted that birthdays are a celebration for to rejoice
Yet I can act pessimistic on this
To see the hour-glass of life half empty
rather than half full.
For I can vision each birthday
as a step closer to old age
A step closer to dreaded death
It's hard to look forward to going gaga or decrepit
when smooth skin would become crumpled, wrinkled
The age of doddering limbs half in the grave
Thus in one aspect each birthday to me
is a step closer to the end of a lifetime
A step closer to the unwanted guest - senility
That reverting to child-like debility
The dwindling of all agility
So I've mixed feelings about celebrating
the nearing of the time when
we'd play back 'em' flash-backs
and in the mind re-live our life tracks
when everything would trickle down to mere memories
with ample time to linger upon life's souvenirs
When we would merely walk down memory lane
So to see it this way
A birthday is a step forward
but towards thy graveyard
The road might be longer
or unfortunately
end abruptly
in a short cut
to heaven or to hell
bard or no bard!
Yet despite knowing all this, I'm always happy come my birthdays
Contented and spirited, flying around chattering like pretty jays
yes i thought of that too..when counting years would make me see half empty hour-glass...and had not been satisfied with what i have become, then...i really should be worried. I like you poem..it is a reflection of one's life on birthdays.
What an irony? A moment of celebration can also turn out to be a moment of sadness or a moment of battered state of mind. The following lines are more than sufficient to explain: Thus each birthday to me / is a step closer to the end of a lifetime.
I need to write a poem called Thoughts on Turning 80...
Just think you have left before you're 50! you should be so lucky since i just turn 50 and I feel time has left me Please read my poem " A Birthday Prayer"
Just stopped by to say hello! A tiny bit disappointed to find no new pieces to read, but delighted to find this one. I also find birthdays a time to reflect on mortality. Youth is to be savored, though, so enjoy these years, for each is a gift. Nicely done, good poetess. :)
Hi mr. Seamus, thanx soo much for your comment, lovely inviting words to write more, will try to find time in this extra busy life though. I like your thoughts and how u put them. Cheers.
is that really a photo of you? OR a movie starlet? ? ? ? AND the candles 'say' 36, not 30! ! i have to take a break now, before i read the poem. :) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ok, i've read it and several of the comments. - - - - - - - - - - you write: My folks send me gifts and greeting congratulating me on a life that's fleeting? ............you or your folks say (your) life is fleeting? ? i think.............................................................fleeting**** is not quite correct in your case. maybe fleeing? ? ? ;) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **** fleet·ing ˈflēdiNG/ adjective adjective: fleeting lasting for a very short time. hoping to get a fleeting glimpse of a whale underwater synonyms: brief, short, short-lived, quick, momentary, cursory, transient, ephemeral, fugitive, passing, transitory; literary evanescent ours was a fleeting romance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i've never heard the expression half empty or half full used for an hour glass. i've always heard it about a drinking glass, or symbolized by a drinking glass, as one thinks, uncomfortably, : there is only half of my drink left; i am unlucky to be left with ONLY half! , INSTEAD OF: oh, good, i still have half of my drink left; i am lucky to have it! the advantage of the 'hour glass' analogy is that, with the hour glass, you may flip it over and start with more time just before the sand completely runs from top to bottom. but..............don't try upending a glass of water or wine! ! you'll have a spill to clean up. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For I can vision each birthday...........I would use envision do you REALLY dread death? ? i'm not saying you should not, but, if you do, i wonder WHY? . OF COURSE, this poem may not be about you! ! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - this made me laugh, softly: The age of doddering limbs half in the grave..........i can see YOU now, with your arms and legs half-in and half-out of the cemetery soil! ! ! and someone is hitting the exposed portions with a shovel while shouting: get all the way under there, you doddering** fool! ! ! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ** from online: dod·der1 ˈdädər/ verb gerund or present participle: doddering tremble or totter, typically because of old age. spent and nerve-weary, I doddered into the foyer of a third-rate hotel synonyms: totter, teeter, toddle, hobble, shuffle, shamble, falter doddering along the sidewalk tottering, tottery, staggering, shuffling, shambling, faltering, shaky, unsteady, wobbly; feeble, frail, weak a doddering patient who needs constant supervision =============================================== an important line: So I've mixed feelings...... well, try to think positively, take care of your body/mind, and give thought to allowing yourself, with the help of medical personnel and/or a loved one (on on your own) to die peacefully before you become completely MISERABLE, USELESS, & DEPENDENT! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! does THAT make you feel better? maybe not. i too sometimes am leery of a longer life with its uncertainties and unpleasant possibilities. i think 69 is a good time to die and be done with it, but there are some naysayers**** and my life is not 'too bad'..............yet. in fact it is pretty good! ****[ well, naysayers doesn't really fit i guess. how about: people who disagree with me? ] YES! i would be glad to have my life end abruptly, not giving me or others a chance to worry that i'll die OR worry that i won't! ! ! ! dying in my sleep would be nice (for me) , as long as my bladder and bowels don't empty upon my death! ! ! being ripped apart by a hungry Great White Shark wouldn't be too bad; the saltwater (and the shark) would take care of the 'bri debris'. hee-hee. well, the poem has a 'happy ending'. i hope your life does as well! ! happy every birthday! ! ! you almost-old person. bri :) to MyPoemList, for laughs if for nothing else. well done. bri :)
Thus in one aspect each birthday to me is a step closer to the end of a lifetime, , a fact you have described in a poetic way
Dear Young Poetess, you almost succeeded in making me depressed because next month I turn 65! That's pretty darn good considering that I was supposed to have died when I was 14 months old. As the years went by, I became more and more grateful for having lived yet another year. So grateful that I began holding public celebrations of life. The next one is a huge one with even a live band. By the way, a celebration of life shouldn't be held for the deceased, but rather, the living. And for the deceased, there should be a way to honor their memory. And the celebration should be renamed, so as to avoid confusion. Any suggestions? That being said, you've written another winner worthy of the big 10.
Hi Richard, I didn't see your comment until today. Wait I will edit this poem into my latest edited version then see if u feel better about it. And don't yah worry,60 is the new 40 they say. Great to read about yor life celebration.