IT’S TIME
They came to see me today.
They said ‘it’s time to face facts’.
That’s what they said.
My hair grows whiter,
My knees are weaker,
My hands are stiffer,
It’s time to face facts.
Be realistic.
It’s time to leave my licence in the drawer.
Time to reserve a place at ‘Green Gables’
Time to sit in the Common Room
With like-minded people and play bingo on Tuesdays.
Time to watch TV during the day and be thankful.
Thankful that I can still solve the ‘Countdown Conundrum’.
Time to look forward to sausage and mash on Thursdays after dominoes.
Time to prepare for the vicars weekly visit.
Time to sit down and chat of days gone by.
Memories of another lifetime so far away.
Time to leave all my life savings to a family that never visits.
Time to join the other residents who are waiting.
Waiting for the inevitable.
Waiting to die.
I am at a crossroads in life.
They are right.
It’s time to face facts.
Time to take a long hard look in the mirror.
Isn’t that what they said?
I look and I see two sparkling eyes returning my gaze.
The eyes of a girl of seventeen
The same girl who waited in the rain for hours for a pop concert ticket,
A girl who wanted to change society and see the world.
A child of the sixties, of flower power, ofa faith of a better tomorrow.
Where is that girl now? The one who could fly?
So now I must face facts. Its time.
-
Time to fill my wallet and fly away.
Time to abseil down Ayres Rock and see the Maoris dance in Rotorua.
Time to sit in front of the Taj Mahal,like themighty Rajahs in days of old.
Time to order a gin sling in Singapore,
And to feel the crunching sound of peanut shells beneath my feet in the Raffles Bar.
Time to motivate my weary bones to walk along the Inca trails of Peru.
To see the graceful condors in flight above the majestic Andes.
Time to watch the mighty oceans crashing together in the southern continents.
Time to observe the curtains of colour in the northern skies as I sail the fjords.
Time to ride the range in Colorado and drive a gold Cadillac along Route 66
As I listen to the melodies of John Denver on the radio
Time to go to Graceland and visit the legend that was Elvis.
Time to swim with the turtles in the warming waters of the Galapagos.
So I intend to obey the orders.
Yes it is definitely time to face facts.
To be realistic. They are quite right.
Here am I at my crossroads in life.
It’s time to say goodbye to the life that is waiting for me.
Of dominoes and bingo,
Of shepherd’s pie and knitting needles.
It’sdefinitely time
But not to wait for death.
It’s time to start to live.