I really do wonder, actually -- genuine question.
SOMEDAY WHEN I’M OLD AND GREY
Someday when I’m wearing dentures
And I have no more adventures
No more frantic, crazy tumbling
Drunken antics, button fumbling
When I’m old and grey and crabby
And my clothes are prim and shabby
When I’ve far outstretched my prime
And I’ve loads and loads of time
When I’m weak and sadly fragile
And no longer sleek and agile
And my blood pressure is soaring
And I spend the whole night snoring
When I can no longer travel
And my voice is coarse as gravel
When my hips are much repaired
And all my grievances, well-aired
Will I sit there, sad repining
Bitterly regretting, whining
Scorned, reviled, despised and shunned –
‘Cause I have no pension fund?
|
Tom Tom...
Written by patterjack (1159 comments posted) 6th November 2006 |
...tinkling Tom Lehrer expressed it all in waltz time
When i first heard it , I laughed .
I laugh no longer . Time has seen to that .
patterjack |
Written by eloquentdukewilson (38 comments posted) 6th November 2006 |
I sit there, sad repining
Bitterly regretting, whining
Scorned, reviled, despised and shunned –
‘Cause I have no pension fund?
Yes, you will. Fortunately, I plan on dying young.
Thanks for the read. |
When I'm Sixty Four...
Written by Talisker (1320 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
And now Macca is sixty-four, and look what he has to deal with!
"Frantic crazy tumbling, drunken antics, button fumbling" 
Witzl, you dark horse you! I had you for a respectable, middle aged lady (for some reason). I think I already had you in the elastic trousers, twinset and pearls and Daniel O'Doodlum records. Silly me! 
Oli |
When I'm Sixty Four...
Written by Talisker (1320 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
And now Macca is sixty-four, and look what he has to deal with!
"Frantic crazy tumbling, drunken antics, button fumbling"
Witzl, you dark horse you! I had you for a respectable, middle aged lady (for some reason). I think I already had you in the elastic trousers, twinset and pearls and Daniel O'Doodlum records. Silly me!
Oli |
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
I don't even know who Daniel O'Doodlum is! And I wouldn't wear a pair of elastic trousers if my life depended on it. Well, okay, I would -- but only then.
Even fairly respectable middle-aged ladies have had their moments, Oli. We too have loved.
EloquentDuke, why not aim for happy AND old? Some folks want to win the lottery, after all, what's the difference in hoping for this? |
Winning the Lottery
Written by eloquentdukewilson (38 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
| But what if it turns out to be Shirley Jackson's version of the lottery? |
Written by Phil (6632 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
Who the hell is Shirley Jackson?
I'd like to grow old quietly, failing that, disgracefully.
Pension funds? The way it's going, if you're under fifty, you'll be dead before you're allowed to retire .
Enjoyed.
All the best,
Phil. |
Who the hell is Shirley Jackson?
Written by eloquentdukewilson (38 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
| Wrote The Lottery - short story about a small town that has a lottery - who ever "wins" - though it's not really winning - alright, whoever gets his/her name drawn with a dot under his/her name is stoned to death by the rest of the townspeople. |
The Lottery
Written by patterjack (1159 comments posted) 7th November 2006 |
I have a film of an improvisation a group of my studnts did on this theme some years ago .
It's a compelling theme indeed .
patterjack |
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 8th November 2006 |
As I recall, 'The Lottery' was required reading for American junior high students (13 - 15 year olds). We all read this and were deliciously horrified by the ending -- the calculated, random cruelty of it all. There were many irritating reading comprehension questions we were expected to answer on what the story meant, too. I heard a radio interview with Shirley Jackson years ago; she said that if she'd known at the time she wrote 'The Lottery' how many 15-year-olds were going to write to her asking what the deep meaning behind 'The Lottery' was, she might never have written it.
Everybody in life is in a lottery, of course -- whether we're hoping for instant richness or we're one of those unfortunates who end up with cancer before they're 40, or dead in a car crash -- or whatever. The lottery I want to win is a big one: the 'died reasonably satisfied with herself' lottery. But hey, I can dream. . . |
Ooooooh! THIS WILL NEVER DO
Written by Josie (2722 comments posted) 8th November 2006 |
| Goodness me Witzl. This will never never do! I must have missed this poem as I am way down the list of people answering it. Now, it's pen to paper to say what I'll do when I get as old as 60! Now don't you go worrying about your pension but think what is to come! |
Whats to come
Written by Talisker (1320 comments posted) 8th November 2006 |
Yes Josie, think what's to come. Faculties gradually failing, loneliness and misery, poverty, the ignorance of the younger generations, fear to go out and about, wearing too many clothes in summer, incontinence, dithering, rheumatism, arthritis, hypothermia and death - wonderful!
Witzl, Daniel O'Doodlum is my special name for the Irish grannies favourite Daniel O'Donnell. Surely you've heard of him!!!
Oli 
P.S. Man phones the local doctor's surgery:
"I think I'm incontinent"
"OK where are you ringing from?"
"Err From the waist down!"
|
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