I Am Old
Connie Woodring
now, and I am invisible, irrelevant and insignificant.
“Ageism” is rarely mentioned in any anti-discrimination lists.
I have to settle for “and others.”
I rarely see folks like me on television, in the movies or in commercials.
My body is abandoning me.
I get out of breath walking up the stairs,
and volleyball and tennis are out of the question.
I am losing weight, down to 101 pounds.
Invisible, indeed.
My skin looks like crepe paper, just like those folks in the commercial who aren’t quite
elderly enough for me.
My friends are dying or in nursing homes.
Very few family members left.
I write poems, not too exhausting.
I rarely see editors in literary journals over the age of 45,
or perhaps I’m not looking in the right places.
I can only hope they can relate to my laments.
I am old, but not too old to remember I thought people like me were invisible,
irrelevant and insignificant.
Connie Woodring
now, and I am invisible, irrelevant and insignificant.
“Ageism” is rarely mentioned in any anti-discrimination lists.
I have to settle for “and others.”
I rarely see folks like me on television, in the movies or in commercials.
My body is abandoning me.
I get out of breath walking up the stairs,
and volleyball and tennis are out of the question.
I am losing weight, down to 101 pounds.
Invisible, indeed.
My skin looks like crepe paper, just like those folks in the commercial who aren’t quite
elderly enough for me.
My friends are dying or in nursing homes.
Very few family members left.
I write poems, not too exhausting.
I rarely see editors in literary journals over the age of 45,
or perhaps I’m not looking in the right places.
I can only hope they can relate to my laments.
I am old, but not too old to remember I thought people like me were invisible,
irrelevant and insignificant.
