I love Judith Viorst's books. Since she is older than I am, I have the benefit of her rueful poems as I reach an age she has already written about. Right now I have just been leafing through Suddenly Sixty (and Other Shocks of Later Life), and, looking ahead a bit, I'm Too Young to Be Seventy (and Other Delusions). If you're younger than this, look for Forever Fifty (and Other Negotiations).
What do I love most? Maybe her combination of true feeling and humor. Maybe the exact way she nails an experience we've all had or thought about. Maybe her fearlessness, at least on paper.
To give you a flavor of her writing, here are a few scattered lines from her poem "A Whole Other Stage":
"I've reached the stage where my lawyer, my broker, my allergist,
and my president are all significantly younger than I."
........................................
"I've reached the stage where I'm no longer able to call myself
middle-aged because that's what my children are."
........................................
"And when I have to admit that, offered the choice, I'd--
unhesitatingly--give up a night of wild rapture with Denzel
Washington for a nice report on my next bone density test,
I know that I've reached a whole other stage."
So, thinking about the importance of expressing ourselves in many ways, I'd like to suggest that you and I reopen the journal we bought to record our dreams and wishes. (You think I don't know that you did the first exercise and then forgot it?)
Give yourself permission to write a poem--in fact, more than one. There is something about writing poetry that releases an inner self who is older and wiser and sometimes even more fun than we allow ourselves to be in our daily lives. We really benefit from knowing this person better by putting her voice down on paper. Try it!
If you would ever like a poem of yours printed here, anonymously or not, leave me a comment or contact me at my email.
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