Amateur in Residence

posted in: The Stories of Pitman NJ | 0

By Mary Alice Gallagher Kaufman, January 3, 2018 —

Amateur in Residence

Even in my youth, I knew

there’d come a time I would be old

and live in quite another world—

a world I’ve reached but still not sold

on double chins and gaining weight,

on thinning hair and losing height

or wondering if my memory

is fading with my dimming sight.

I’ve fallen arches, wear false teeth,

I’ve little breath for ballroom dancing.

Heartless nature has deprived

me of all need for sweet romancing.

As I recall the graceful stride

that used to rate me sky-high points,

I should have known that time would cause

a certain stiffness in my joints.

My widening waist does not excite

wild passion in the other sex,

nor does my bustline cause, these days,

an anatomical reflex

the way it did when passing by

some guy with nothing on his mind

but being young and thinking me

the epitome of female-kind.

Alas, ’tis over, gone for good

but other virtues wait, I’m sure.

Just what they are, I do not know.

Old age finds me an amateur.

[This poem was written by Mary Alice, Julie-Ann Young’s grandmother, in 2009. We post it here with her permission]