Warning ~ I Shall Wear Purple September 12, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, People, Poetry, Word Play.trackback
Warning – When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
By Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
and learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and pay our rent and not swear in the street
and set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Related posts: Advice From Erma * Dare to Make Mistakes * Growing Wiser With Grace * Life Lessons ~ Randy Pausch * The Awakening by Sonny Carroll
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Spirit Lights The Way 
What about a man when he grows old. I like the idea of having not to care about material things. I’m starting a few of my own. Sometimes I go out of the house with inverted shirt. My tells me to turn it around, I tell her its okay and the world does not own me. If she’s cool with it, so am I. Love the post!
We should all give ourselves the FREEDOM to be who we want.
To freedom!
Freedom . . . keep rocking.
Keep on your toes and don’t stop talking ’bout . . .
Freedom . . . get going
Lots to be learned and lots to be knowing ’bout . . .
Love for one another
Calling some friend and calling some brother . . .
Love the inverted shirt!
What does it say that I already where purple more than any other color? I don’t wear the red hat though, or at least not often. 😉
I love wearing Red and Purple together . . . with a splash of Turquoise tossed into the mix.
I am not quite there yet, still inshorts and see-through tops
Good for you . . .
I wear what suits me and encourage others to do the same . . . as long as their privates are covered. 😉
When I am an old man, I will get a recliner.
With a built in mini-fridge!
Already wearing purple, or at least lavender…:-)
I wear purple and red and turquoise. C’est Moi!
One of my all time favorites…love the anthology.
I just added one of Oriana Kacicek’s paintings . . . purple and red are perfect together!
Now, that just makes me REALLY want a strawberry milkshake!
Her paintings are realistic and delicious!
This poem might have been written for you, Nancy 🙂
Except for the eating “three pounds of sausages at a go” bit! 😉
(I do “gobble up samples in shops”).
GRIN. It’s carte blanche!
We hold the keys to our own jail cells. 😎
I think I’ve heard it before…what a superlative choice for a post, Nancy. Thank you 🙂
Gospel Writer’s poem, In Autumn, reminded me of it . . . such a liberating idea. 😀
There is a certain liberation in getting old(er). I am loving it!
Me too! I would not go back to my “younger years” (although I wouldn’t mind being at my “younger weight”). 😉
One of my favourite poems 🙂 These days the pressure is on to look ever younger as one gets ever older but I say pffft to all that
I want to look as young and healthy as I can through proper diet and exercise . . . not through face lifts and tummy tucks.
I’ve ALWAYS worn purple – I’ve never understood this thing about it being an “old” colour!
I’ve never thought of it as an “old” color ~ it’s vibrant and alive and energetic. Jenny hasn’t allowed herself to feel fully alive . . . she will when she gets older . . . by wearing purple . . . with a red hat . . . and she’s going to start practicing now.
Aah . . . that’s better.
I can’t believe that is a painting – amazing! There is an elderly woman who works in my building who has dyed her hair purple and any time I see her, I think of this poem. Her purple warms my heart.
Oriana’s paintings never fail to WOW me!
And how cool about your neighbor’s purple hair ~ maybe I’ll add that to my bucket list! 😀
Purple is one of my favorite colors and I will keep wearing it… Love that poem. 🙂
Purple prose, I can do without.
Purple clothes make me twirl about.
WHEE!
Ah I quite like purple!
Me too! . . . C’est moi!
cool post. I have started doing some of these….the slippers in the rain….hehehe….who cares? they will wash and dry!
I love purple. Especially the lavender aspect of purple.
doing things we enjoy without harming others is love. We need more love!
I like the ‘Whee!’ also….Whee!
Yes, more love . . . do what you will an’ harm none. 😀
Glad you wear your slippers in the rain and reveal your inner purple to the world.
WHEE!
I am now 66 years old and I am in much better shape than my father was at this age. I think that’s a good way to measure my general health. I walk about one hour a day, every day, and I’m on a high fiber diet. I’ve also never smoked and I rarely drink alcohol.
Last December, during my monthly chiropracter’s appointment, the man told me, “I can’t believe you’re 65! You move like a man who is 30!”
Then during my June appointment, he said, “It’s like you’re 25!”
Imagine that. I’ve aquired 5 years in the last six months! If things continue this way, by next summer, I could have the body of a 15 year old. (I just hope a 15 year old’s mind doesn’t come with it. Who’d want to be the way he was when he was 15?)
If things remain this way, I could live considerably longer than most people. I wonder how long that is? According to the Bible, Methusalah lived 969 years, and begat sons and daughters. A truly remarkable man! How about Mrs. Methusalah? Theoretically she could have produced on child a year for over 900 years. A remarkable woman indeed.
While I wouldn’t mind a considerably long life, I definitely wouldn’t look forward to all those kids.
Being healthy is great, but not if it’s not FUN. 😀
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
My comment from yesterday didn’t post!
Anyway, I said (or thought I said),
‘Why wait before you wear the purple clothing and red hat? Shouldn’t we all not care about what others think of us?’
Also, purple and red is a GREAT color combo!
Great post Nancy!
Cheered me up no end!!
*#*
Exactly! Don’t wait . . . start “practicing” NOW!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Somebody’s comment today got caught in the SPAM filter, but I didn’t see a comment by you “waiting in the wings.”
Glad you enjoyed the post. Here’s to good cheer!
I can find a lot of things to do, that are much more interesting than what you’ve mentioned; especially here in the New York Metropolitan Area. There are theaters, museums, fine restaurants, and so much more. As the lyricist Lorenze Hart wrote:
“We’ve got Manhattan
The Bronx, and Statten Island too.
It’s lovely going through the zoo.
And things are fancy
On old Delancy Street, you know.
The Subway charms us so.
It’s balmy breezes blow
Too and fro.
And tell me what street
Compares with Mott Street
In July?
Its pushcarts gently gliding by.
The great big City’s a wonderous toy,
That’s made for a girl and boy.
Well turn Manhattan, into an Isle of Joy!
That’s what I’d prefer to be doing, than wearing a purple garment, while sitting on a hard pavement, stuffing my face, and making a nuisance of myself.
Don’t fret, William . . . it’s only a poem! 😆
Funny. I am slowly getting there. That is a fabulous painting!
I am far happier when I don’t worry about what “they” think ~ for example, while I’m dancing and singing in the ice cream aisle at the grocery store. 😉
I absolutely adore this, for my 100th post back about three years ago I listed 100 favourite things and this poem was among them.
It’s a very cool poem. I understand completely why you might put in on your list of favorite things! 😀
Some of us are far too serious as we go about building our tunnels to nowhere. Life is a journey . . . and none of us will get out of it alive. 😎
“The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide.
Above the world is stretched the sky.
No higher than the soul is high.”
(Edna St. Vincent Millay)
What’s your point?
Or are you just playing “dueling poems”? 😆
If I am playing “dueling poems”, I am just playing.
It seem as if my creativity took the whole Summer off. It’s now returned from vacation, and starting to get back to work; and this was a warm up exercise.
I think I’m ready to go back to composing fiction, where I am always very playful; but when I’m posting on your blog, I’ll try to behave myself..
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