California Retirement Community

It's safe here, I suppose,
and the rents don't climb too often.
I may ho hum in perfect peace, to the credit
of no one in particular.
Pleasures are in short supply and "they"
won't let me feed the squirrels--
some nonsense about diseases;
in my youth I was a master at that,
every day back home
upon the courthouse lawn.

And what's the point, you ask?

We dodderers need none.  There are
our waiting graves to make excuses
for us.  They are eloquent enough.
Silent for the nonce, they speak
in hints, apologies and metaphor.
(I find I have a special need for those)

All is not lost, however.
I'm about to release my report
on an important new project:
If fingers can twiddle as effectively
...in reverse.
     ~

Reviews

[Beccy]

Vive la difference, as they say. -:)

[Dean]

It's not as bad as it sounds! :-)

[Beccy]

I occasionally help out in a retirement home in Moulton village close to where I live. The difference between attitudes is quite marked. For some, such a project would prove fascinating, for others, perhaps no more than a brief distraction from the waiting.

My father has a very dear friend, an author and film maker, quite well known in the sixties and seventies. He is a fascinating man to talk to. 'I can manage without suppleness of limb, but when my intellect leaves, so shall I," he once told me.

It's almost always about attitude of mind isn't it.

Beccy.

[Dean]

yeah...guess so. Choices are few. I agree with your author friend...although when you think about it--When the intellect goes, I probably won't even care. :-) So heck, might as well bask in what is meaningful, rather than just vegegtate. (Cute ladies are still meaningful!)

[Sami Khalil]

"It's safe here"
Out of the concrete jungle.

"I may ho hum in perfect peace"
Feeling peace and serenity at this stage of life.

"Pleasures are in short supply"
When people get older they need things other than pleasure.


"We dodderers need none. There are
our waiting graves"
Anticipating death or having a date with the reaper some day.

"All is not lost, however."
Memoeries are not lost but cherished.

"twiddle as effectively
...in reverse."

I love this analogy here for it seems all in reverse now.
Excellent...:).................

[Dean]

Thank you, Sami

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:).....................

[Lydia Shutter]

Living in a retirement community myself, albeit in South Florida, I can relate to this. However, not all retirees are just waiting for their lives to end. Some are quite active and lead interesting lives....of course not as interesting as figuring out if one can twiddle fingers in reverse! I understand the attitude in this one...and you have expressed it quite well, Dean. Lydi**

[Dean]

of course! Thanks. :-)

[Marie]

I find that if I turn my hand over, I really can twiddle my fingers in reverse. Good to know.

[Dean]

practice makes perfect

[J. J. Nightingale]

I wonder where I'll be .. in a year or two
Will there be a soft place to lay my head
Will I even give a damn ..
I was born in San Diego
Maybe I should "finish up" there
I wonder where I'll be..in a year or two

There is always some "they" to tell us
How and where to be..
I hear you Dean
I'm waiting for that report !
Would you like some company...?

Jazz

[Dean]

dunno..the art of thumb twiddling takes years to perfect. Are you up to it?

Hey, thanks, my girl

[J. J. Nightingale]

HA .. Wouldn't know about the thumbs ..lol ... Maybe.... :)..xo

[Thomas Skahill]

I really like your word choice in this poem: rents, ho hum, dodderers, and finger twiddling really caught my eye. Their not something I see much in poetry but I'm glad to have experienced it. I feel relaxed and ready to quietly contemplate my time away with no pressing intellectual destination. Furthermore, California could provide a more perfect "paradise" for retirement.

[Dean]

thank you, Tom