Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear white dresses often

I enjoy following Lori Hershberger’s blog insearchofabrook. She writes beautiful poetry and interesting accounts of her adventures. She recently wrote her own personalized version of a poem by Jenny Joseph called “Warning: When I am a an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple” and I thought it was such a delightful idea that I decided to follow suit and do my own version.

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Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear white dresses often

And I will even sometimes wear tank tops (with no cardigan), which display my stubbornly-soft upper arms for all to see.

And I shall spend my pension on gifts for the people I love and tickets to all manner of performances

And art for my walls, and say we’ve no money for staying home for too many months at a time- we can only afford to travel.

I shall sit down by my lake when I’m tired

And rest quietly cross-legged at the edge of the evening gatherings that I will hold under the string lights and around the bonfire in my blossomy, vine-y garden year-round and read more children’s books than ever

And finally dance

And make up for the Great Wall of Myself.

I shall swim properly- arm over arm, face in the water, out of the water, in the water, out of the water- on the sunny days 

And play my favourite easy piano songs on the rainy days

And delicately brush brush brush to excavate the kindness and warmth that I so often bury beneath self-consciousness

And I shall finally learn to pray.

You can wear beautiful pajamas and let your hair run frizzy and white

And eat an entire baguette in one go (with butter and cheese and bruschetta and jam)

Or- for a whole week- eat only foods that have been roasted over the fire

And hoard taper candles, and photos of precious people, and knowledge of the best treats, and memories of hugs, kisses, and eye contact.

But now we must be respectable,

And spend our money on dehumidifiers and not climb the trees;

We must set ourselves up for the future.

We must go to work every weekday and try to eat veggies before sugar in the mornings.

But maybe I should start to practice now

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When I am an old woman and start to wear white.

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And you? What will the old woman version of you do and love?