Age Brings with it a Special Permission

Although there is much about aging that is not ideal like most things when we look close enough we will find that silver-lining . . . this poem was written to embrace this special time in our lives.

Age Brings with it a Special Permission

Aging brings with it a special permission

To unlock the door, climb the fence

Escape barefoot into the wild of the wild

Where our hearts and feet now dare to tread

Permission to think thoughts frozen in icicles of fear

Sticking like popsicles to new found tongues

To speak words previously unspoken

No holding back, with excuses or apologies for what will be said

Permission to be bolder and show up bigger

Our voices louder and more obstinate

We say the wrong things and think it really doesn’t matter

We really only need to please ourselves for a change

Permission to stop caring about being popular

Being pretty is nice but not necessary

We wind down and gear up

To be that feisty little girl all over again

Permission to give up the pity party

We just don’t have the time

Instead we eat the forbidden chocolate brownie

Put on our sturdy sneakers and soldier on

Our vision improves as our eyesight worsens

We see sunrises and sunsets for the first time

Stars shine brighter, the sky is bluer

We are mesmerized by the smell of fresh rain

Permission to be our own bosses

To finally be in charge of us

Days belong to us, instead of us to them

And we fill them easily with chores and pleasures left undone

Permission to let others solve the world’s problems

The couch is far more inviting

A good novel, listening to music

Chatting with an old friend, far more exciting

Permission to do with wisdom as we please

To embrace it or discard it

No one left to impress

We may yet choose foolishness, just because we can

Permission to dance with and without music

To sing even if we cannot sing a note

To dress up and dress down

Just because we feel like it

Permission to visit the past

As though it were our private time machine

To sit and ponder, cry and laugh

And then come back over and over again

Permission to marvel and be in awe

At the world, at the universe

At our place, this human race

In the grand scheme of everything

Permission to wear our hearts inside and out

Love and live on hugs and affection

Say I love you like a mantra

For every reason, and no reason at all

Permission to surrender to the reality that we may not stay

That this life is after all a gift and not meant to last forever

And it does and does not matter

If we have lived our days well

Yes, age brings with it a special permission

To do and be the most extraordinary thing

Be our true selves, unencumbered

And grateful for the gift of life, and living