When I Grow Old I Shall Wear Tiffany Blue

When I am an old man I shall wear Tiffany blue

With a gold sequined top hat which doesn’t go, 

And I shall spend my pension on Starbucks latte’s and Ralph Lauren t-shirts

I shall lie down on a hammock when I’m tired

And gobble up cherry pie at Polly’s and ring former students’ door bells and hide

And run my cane along the elderly gymnasts’ balance beams

And make up for the wandering of my youth.

I shall go out in my multi-colored flower design long-johns in the rain

And leave my dog’s poop in other people’s gardens

And learn to whistle through my fingers.

You can wear hot pink swimsuits and grow more chubby

And eat three pounds of See’s candy at a go

Or only pancakes and blueberries for a week 

And hoard toilet paper and pine nuts and things in golden cases.

But now we must have quarantines that keeps us safe

And pay our mortgage and not leave the toilet seat up

And set a good example by washing our hands often.

We must have friends to virtual-dinner and blog on the iPad.

But maybe I ought to tap dance a little now?

So people who love me are not too bored or falling asleep

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear Tiffany blue. 

–EJA