Birthday Boy (reflections on being yet another year older, otherwise known as my take
on “existential angst”)
It’s funny how things can
easily change,
How your view on life drops
through the gears,
But your perspective can turn
right around,
When you find yourself
advancing in years.
I remember the early
excitement,
When I was just a very young
boy.
The anticipation of
birthdays,
Would bring weeks of
advancing joy.
How many cards and presents
would there be?
When would my mother begin to
bake?
How big and what kind of
icing,
On top of my own birthday
cake?
Would there be a party and
some treats?
With games and plenty of
laughter,
A day that would stick in the
mind,
And provide memories for long
after?
But things are all different
now,
And I find my trepidation
mounting.
After I’d got as far as sixty,
That’s when I really stopped
counting.
There’s no special cake I’m
having today,
But if bought from a shop
you’d need handles.
It would have to be a massive
confection,
If there was to be room for
all of the candles.
They’d make up a blazing
conflagration,
Of that you should have very
little doubt,
And I don’t think I’d have
the breath these days,
To blow every one of them
out.
I’m no longer sure that the
day’s all that special.
Why make such a fuss of one
single day?
Yesterday had no unique
features,
And tomorrow’s just an
ordinary day.
The few cards I get from
those that remember,
Fall limply through my
letter-box.
There isn’t enough of them to
make up a pile,
And my birthday hopes are all
mocked.
I don’t want to make any
bother or fuss:
It would be good to
get a nice present,
For I don’t want to be
forgotten quite yet,
Or just seen as an ancient
monument.
Once I hoped I’d die before I
got old,
But you can see I’m not
getting younger,
I’ve still got a great zest
for life, though,
And for new things I
continue to hunger.
And as I reflect on this
anniversary,
And I head towards some
veneration,
I begin to think about my own
children,
Cos I’m talkin’ ‘bout my
generation.
So don’t give up on me too soon,
Just because I’m advancing in
years.
I shall still go down to the
pub most nights,
Yes, I can still sink a few
beers!
And as I enter my seventh
decade,
I’ve vowed to remain healthy
and fit,
I’ll annoy all my friends
& family,
And just become a miserable
old git.
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