bout de papier, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1988) — Winter 1988 // Hiver 1988, p. 43
I bethought me on account of all of us:
Three score and some may be late middle age,
But “over the hill” it definitely is not!
Even the hill that is legally prescribed,
At an arbitrary age of three score and five,
Is only a hill like a mesa is –
A vantage expanse of tableland —
Where far and away a new world is at hand,
To be taken in stride at one’s very own pace,
Where adventure beckons from many a point —
Ahead that is, but not behind –
Where vision is needed and wisdom too,
Where life is revealed in a singular way,
Where experience flowers and one does belong
To a resourceful company of eldermen,
The value of which, by some flawed irony,
In our western and youth oriented society,
Is not fully appraised for the potential it holds
For the wealth and the worth of our nation.
So being sexa- or septua-, indeed octo-genarian,
Is a positively worthy and challenging estate!
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1988) — Winter 1988 // Hiver 1988, p. 43. Read the rest of this issue →
