“Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.” ~ Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
I received
a birthday card with that quote written in bold, colorful, stylish letters. After
reading it, I thought, I didn’t know art had to hurt this much. Really,
it seems that the older I get, the more things tear, stiffen, swell, and ache. Remember
your late teens and early twenties? Me neither, but I’ve heard that my gut and
bones didn’t hurt so much back then. Ah, sweet memories. Then again, I remember
how much I used to stress about worthless things and people, when I was
that age, so I guess it’s a tradeoff—a lot of pain for a bit of wisdom (or, at least, that’s what I will tell myself next time my
neuropathy makes self-eye-gouging seem like a good idea).
For today’s
optional prompt, my dear poets and storytellers, I invite you to write
poetry or prose inspired by the thoughts and feelings that brew to mind when you
read that “Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.”
Required: Add
the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant,
please, 369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry.
Optional: You
may share old or new pieces of poetry or prose, and you may write to the prompt
or to a topic of your choosing.
Requested (not compulsory but strongly recommended): Visit other poets and storytellers.
Read their words, and share what they brew out of
your mind.
for next week, Rommy will invite us to write poetry or prose about a book
we’ve read more than once.
photo by Rod Long on, Unsplash
I agree with you, Magaly, aging gets blamed for much in the health problem territory. A couple of months ago I was diagnosed with the title of having anemia. My Red Cell count had suddenly dipped to nine, 9, and they said all avenues were dead end, starting with cancer with even a bone marrow check. They did find, though, that often aging, mine of 90, can be a problem for this. End.
ReplyDeleteSame with my Kidney functions, my eGFR create (CKD-EPI 2021), Value 48, Abnormal that put me in Kidney Failure stage three, 3, This value of any number corelates with "Kidney" failure which ran from one to five with five being total Kidney Failure. Again cancer was ruled out and so with other possibilities. So too, this could be diagnosed as due to aging. Settled.
So I know you also have had much of these situations with your cancer, I am not sure you were eligible as "aged" but are getting there at least.
..
Ha! I think "aged" or aging applies to all of us the moment we are born. But I know what you mean. I get that a lot. People, especially older people, often tell me "But you are so young to have so many aches." But as you and I know, number of years mean very little when your body is battling multiple chronic illnesses.
DeleteI find I am lately looking back to times when I was much spryer than I am now and wishing I had appreciated them more, and perhaps worked harder at trying to keep them going longer. Ah well, at 84, and having been wilfully lax about exercise in recent years (too busy writing) I guess I mustn't complain too much. I'm very glad the brain seems to still be working well.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for working brains!
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