Maybe I'll Fool Him, Too

I decided not to grow old 'gracefully',

but to fight old-age every inch of the way.

Twin-sets and blue rinses

are definitely not me!

When I fetch my pension

I wear mustard, with a floppy hat,

and 'hippy' sandals, that defy old-age.

Friends are puzzled and envious

as they lower their eyes

whispering worn-out cliches

like, 'mutton dressed as lamb',

while secretly marvelling

at my long dark curls

and girlish figure.

I've been thirty-six now, to everybody

for the past twenty years.

The remarkable thing is

that people really believe it !

I tell close friends that

I've bathed naked

in the fountain of Eternal Youth,

and the child, (disguised as an Optician),

that I'm too young for the Glaucoma test.

So when Death peers through the window

maybe I'll fool him, too,

and he'll pass by

powerless and perplexed.

by

Shirley Frances Winskill 1992