Approaching Old Age
commences with these words, repeated ad infinitum.
The early faltering steps of yesterday's child
are the stick-aided hobbles of today's OAP.
It's Time, Gentlemen, please! Gulp down your beers.
Have a competition binge to see who consumes most.
There's a limited time. Last orders right now.
Where has the night gone? It has vanished in smoke.
Oh, was there a time when days lasted for an age,
and a year didn't come and disappear in a flash?
The time that truly matters is the moment here and now.
It is far too precious to dissipate in idle play.
Today is for living, while tomorrow is for dying.
Did I hear someone say, 'I want to live for evermore.
I dearly want to live and I don't want to die?'
Then celebrate today as if tomorrow isn't coming.
As we bask in the sunshine and frolic in the sea,
The clouds are quietly gathering as the sky turns to grey.
The autumn of our lives will give us time to reflect
That the frosts and snows of winter have a beauty all their own.
To save some precious time bring in high-speed trains,
and supersonic planes, to travel even faster.
Then put the clocks back for some daylight saving.
Do you think it will knock even an hour off our age?
So where will you store the time that you save?
And what will you do with the hours and the days?
When your final call comes, your reserves won't help.
Your savings won't be passed to your next-of-kin.
You may try to ignore the passing of the years.
You may make an effort to undo the ravages of time.
Why not spend your money on anti-ageing creams?
Indulge in a face-lift or maybe inject some Botox.
A workout in the gym and a carefully planned diet
Combined with a course of magic HRT
May allow you to linger in the fountain of youth.
Forget about the risks. Live it up while you can.
Perpetual youth is a myth of our time.
It is quantity you're after rather than quality of life.
Remember those far-off misty days in your teens
when all you really wanted was to skip over some years.
You were itching to leave your childhood behind.
As you longed to start dating and enjoy your first kiss.
Oh, the constant perversity of our human nature!
Are we never to be satisfied with the status quo?
What a futile exercise it is, I believe,
To try to reverse the cruel passage of time!
The butterfly's beauty will flourish for a while.
Then another will appear and dazzle in its place.
Although life in general may ceaseless be
Remember puny mortals must eventually pass away.
The day we were born we were doomed to die.
So why foolishly bury our heads in the sand?
There's a sell-by-date on the items that we buy.
A settlement date on the bills that are due.
If we want a good bargain by the end of the sales,
We must hurry to the stores before it's too late.
It is never too late to make our amends.
If there is someone we've hurt let us apologise now.
For time is running out faster than we'd like.
As the Latin puts it neatly, Tempus fugit!
Time flies the annual Christmas round robin's
Opening words, repeated ad infinitum,
Flow glibly from the pen
The first faltering steps of yesterday
Are today's arthritic, stick-aided hobbles. Time, Gentlemen, please!
Gulp down your beers.
Have a competition binge
to see who can consume the most in the given time.
Where has the night gone? Flown in fruitless revelry.
Was there a time when days seemed like an eternity,
When a year didn't come and go in a flash?
There is no time like the present.
Too precious to waste in idle pursuits
Whiling the hours away.
Today is for living, tomorrow for dying.
Did I hear you say you wanted to live for ever,
to live, not die?
Then live today as if tomorrow will never come.
Tomorrow will never come however fast time flies.
Nor can yesterday ever be recalled, so
Make the most of today.
Save time. Bring in high-speed trains, supersonic planes.
Put your clocks back by one hour.
It used to be called Daylight Saving
Travel westwards and go back some more.
Where will you store the time saved?
What will you do with it?
When your time comes, you won't be able
To fall back on your reserves.
Nor can your savings be left as a legacy to next-of-kin.
Advance your clocks again by one hour
And leap forward in time.
Go Eastwards to hurl yourself forward some more.
Ignore time and it will one day catch up with you.
Be obsessed by it and you will lose it for sure,
Trying to undo the ravages of the passing years.
Spend your money on anti-ageing creams.
Have a face-lift, inject some Botox,
Work out in the gym and think carefully about your diet.
Indulge in a course of hormone replacement therapy,
Then wallow in the fountain of youth.
Forget about the risks. Live it up while you can.
Do you really want to live forever?
It's all a con. In buying extra time you are
Choosing quantity rather than quality of life.
Don't you remember the time in your teens
When you wanted the clock to jump forward,
Forward to your first kiss, your first date?
You were itching to leave your childhood behind.
Oh, the perversity of human nature!
Are we never satisfied with the status quo?
What a futile exercise it is
Trying to turn the clock back!
Scrutinise each item for its sell-by-date.
Avoid paying your gas and your telephone bills late.
Grab a bargain before the end of the sales.
Apologise to the one you've hurt
Before it's too late!
Tempus fugit!