Monday, August 17, 2020

77 Sunset Trip

I wrote this yesterday, at the turning of the leaf, so to speak.

The sound of it like a dance
Cavorting brightly on a sunlit beach
Or a fragrant meadow
Lost in the mist of long ago memory.

Seventy-seven. My number now.
Sibilant, slithering on the tongue
Sliding across the brain
A staggering number, stupendous, shocking.

Peering over the precipice of seventy-five
Looking back at so much
Looking ahead at so little
Each day an uncertainty of if and when.

Inside I scream: I'm here! Look at me!
But I'm the only one listening
My aches and pains and challenges
Some kind of inside joke.

And for all that, I will grip
This frivolous seventy-seven
Like a prize, unearned,
A most unserious number
Festooned with sparkling promise.


35 comments:

  1. Oh, you need a hug from a love one. You are 3 years older than me. Congratulations.

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  2. Congratulation on reaching this fabulous number. I send you many hugs from a hot day in Denmark (sunshine means you have been nice in the past year - sunshine all of yesterday as well) and hope to hear much more form your corner of the world.

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    1. Yes it was a glorious sunny day yesterday Charlotte. Thank you for your beautiful wishes.

      XO
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  3. Gosh, I really loved reading this. I'm 73, soon to be 74. I wonder where all the time went.

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    1. So do I, and now it is truly flying under my feet and I can't keep up :)

      XO
      WWW

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  4. Nice. And, so, well ... happy birthday!

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  5. And a very happy birthday to you. Even as a child I struggled with numbers. I am quite happy to ignore them now.
    And isn't time an elastic trickster. Decades gone in the blink of an eye, and some mornings which stretch to eternity.

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    1. "Elastic Trickster" - I like that EC. It sure is. When we want to stretch those days they fly past, when we can't wait for them to be over, they go on and on and on.

      XO
      WWW

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  6. Happy birthday to you. You made another year and still functioning well.

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    1. Thanks Andrew, well compos mentis anyway, I think.

      XO
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  7. Happy Birthday. Seventy seven does roll smoothly off the tongue. I have a while to go before I get there.

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    1. Lucky you River, the years after 60 seem to race by, though I have to admit I packed a lot in!

      XO
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  8. I hope you had a wonderful day of celebration! I love your images of 77, it really does sound like a cavorting dance. Long may you cavort, or at least dance!

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    1. Trying to Annie, these old legs are on strike many days. I must try and find some moves that don't hurt!

      XO
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  9. Not surprised we'r both Leos!! Happy Birthday!

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    1. I had a sense of that too Jackie. I've also found it intriguing that most Leos have thick hair, just like the lion's mane.

      XO
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  10. Wow! It has been a while since I saw cursive handwriting. Neat. I sent an email which awaits your response.

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    1. Thank you Ramana, I do note, however, that my cursive isn't as fluid as it used to be, gone rusty in fact. Though I do like the sound of my pen on the page underlining the words themselves.

      XO
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  11. Yes indeed, let's think of the sparkling promise and not the uncertainty of if and when. A beautiful poem.

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    1. Thank you Nick. I was reminded of promise today also when I took a risk and phoned someone I hadn't spoken to in ages.

      XO
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  12. I am a little late to the party! Happy Birthday!

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    1. Thank you Ain't, never too late as long as I'm alive!

      XO
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  13. Happy Birthday! Love your poem so much - maybe because I am 77 also - born in April, 1943. Thankful for so much including being able to read your blog.

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    1. Oh Mary, it is so lovely to find a "twin" of 1943. Long may our big jibs draw!

      XO
      WWW

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