Poetry Friday: Sixty Thoughts

Dunkin’ Donuts is 60.

Beetle Bailey is 60.

Jay Leno is 60.

Ringo Starr is 70—but that’s another poem…

Soixante Pensées

The day my mother turned 60, she told me,
Smiling,
“I didn’t think it would feel like this.”
She meant,
“It’s surprisingly good.”
Her own mother at 60 was ancient, unsteady,
Living a life ruled by angina.
But my mother
Bowled on Tuesdays,
And traveled with Dad,
And watched her young grandchildren splash in the backyard pool.

When I turned 60, I told my daughter,
Surprised,
“I didn’t think it would feel like this.”
I meant,
“I didn’t think I would be 60 and alone.”
My own mother was just beginning to live again at 60.
But instead, I
Buried you,
And never got enough sleep,
And tired of thinking about all that had to be done, alone.

In 30 years, my daughter will turn 60 and I hope she tells her own daughter,
Smiling,
“I didn’t think it would feel like this.”
And mean
That she is just starting to live again at 60.
Because
Tuesdays are for lunch with friends,
And she is traveling,
And she is watching her grandchildren splash in the backyard pool,

And, perhaps, because smiling at 60 skips a generation.

Aurelie Chimère Cinquante Poèmes Non-lu

This week's Poetry Friday is being hosted by Breanne at Language, Literacy, Love. Stop by!