I am old and retired

I am old and retired
P K Routray

As I've aged,
I've become kinder to,
and less critical of, myself.
I've become my own friend.
I have seen too many dear friends
leave this world,
too soon; before they
understood the great freedom
that comes with aging.
Whose business is it?
if I choose to read,
or play on the computer,
until four in the morning,
or sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself
to those wonderful tunes
of the fiftys, sixty’s and seventy’s,
and if I, at the same time, wish
to weep over a lost
love, I will.
I will walk the beach,
in a swim suit
that is stretched
over a bulging body,
and will dive into the waves,
with abandon,
if I choose to, despite
the pitying glances from the jet set.
They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again,
some of life is just as
well forgotten.
And, eventually, I remember
the important things.
and will never know
the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed
to have lived long enough
to have my hair turning gray,
and to have my youthful laughs
be forever etched into
deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed,
and so many have died
before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older,
it is easier to be positive.
You care less about
what other people think.
I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the
right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question,
I like being old.
It has set me free.
I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever,
but while I am still here,
I will not waste time lamenting
what could have been, or
worrying about
what will be.
And I shall eat dessert
every single day
(if I feel like it).
Only the old lady my wife
to laugh, comment,
criticize, advise and share
as usual turning a deaf ear
to her, I march on.