“The Right of Passage of Growing Older”

Poem of the Day, November 11, 2023

“The Right of Passage of Growing Older”

Is there some right of passage
when one gets older?
How many 20% coupons
can you really use?
Or the fact that no one
cards you anymore.
They assumed by the way you look
that you must be a senior citizen,
and give you the discount
without even asking you.
Of course, I don’t mind
the discounts and people willing
to hold open the door,
smiles behind your back
or even the kind looks
when they pass by like
they might feel sorry for you
since you look like their grandparents.

My looks may be congruent
with how they see me,
passing by hurriedly,
eyes mostly glued
to the phone in their hand,
but my mind seems to be
still pretty sharp.
I keep up on things
so, I can have a decent conversation
I still drive with astuteness,
within the posted speed limit
and, yes, with a wee bit of caution,
especially at night.

I do grouse and groan
just a tich when I see
these young people
with phones in their hands,
hand on the steering wheel
with a drink in it
or their heads staring down
at stop signs and signal lights,
reading what I suspect
are text messages
and then texting
someone back
about “cool emoji”
or some nonsensical thing
or whatever,
probably not even
grammatically correct
or with the proper punctuation
or using appropriate
upper and lower case.

I am definitely not ready
to sit in the recliner,
flip through channels,
play on my phone.
But if there is right of passage
that allows a nap
during the middle of the day,
I suspect I am willing to succumb
to that even if I will still call it
my “power nap.”