Area 51.
Unites State Secret.
UFO's
And who knows
What:
Ion-drives, anti-gravity propulsion
Ray guns and Martians in cryogenic suspension.
Age 51 in an hour from now –
Two if I count by GMT
And not where I happen to be,
Rather than by this Wehrmacht grey, teutonic timepiece,
Synchronised with clinical efficiency
To an atomic clock
That loses barely a millisecond in a million years...
Unless someone pulls the plug out, that is,
Like that Stateside hospital cleaner
Who couldn't find a socket,
So she unplugged intensive care machinery
[albeit temporarily]
Diligently hoovered
And dutifully re-plugged
Before leaving the room both
Spotless
And, sadly,
Lifeless.
Countdown academic.
Slipped away and fell asleep
Well before the 'witching hour' -
Woke to find myself 50 no more.
51's a strange age though:
At 35 you feel too young
To be half way through the three-score and ten.
51,
However,
Tells a different tale –
Over the 'hump' and heading
Slowly down the slow-but-sure slide.
Paradoxically I feel the younger for the latter years:
More alive to life and free of fears.
That is just to way to feel Tony my friend - - ageless - - and 'younger for these latter years - - more alive to life and free of fears' so carefully phrases the point and encourages those who are only approaching that stage to think more of what life gives to a more experienced heart...... super read - - Fay with a 10 plus
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Really like the idea of younger for the latter years. Sounds like an album! Yep...it is a mile stone for all of us. The secret is - not to let it become a mill stone.