Over the Hill
I am getting older, I’m
nearly fifty five.
Over half a century I have
been alive.
I should be slowing down now,
and easing up my life.
I should be getting mellow
like every older wife.
But here I am a-peddling up
this bloody hill.
I hear my grandsons calling, their
voices loud and shrill.
You can make it Granny. You’re
really doing well.
(I do not want to tell them
that I almost fell.)
They think I am their
playmate. They think its rather fun
that Granny takes them
cycling when their homework’s done.
And as they dash through
puddles and do wheelies up the curb
they encourage me to follow;
but really that’s absurd!
They fall and seconds later
they’re back up on their bikes,
a band-aid heals their
scrapes but Granny falls, and yikes –
She needs a month of physio
to get her muscles right.
So falling off her bicycle
would not be very bright.
Now they’re heading down hill
at a break-neck speed.
Those boys are getting all
the adrenalin they need.
With screeching breaks I
follow at a calmer pace.
“Go Grandma”, calls a smart
ass. Aloof, I turn my face.
I could be baking cookies, I
could be knitting socks.
Instead I join my grandsons
scrambling over rocks.
I could be watching T.V. or
at a ladies’ club.
Instead I join them hiking
when they go with the cubs.
I’m glad that I, a grandma
can still do all these things.
Being active with my
grandsons – oh what joy that brings.
We have such fun together out
in the cool fresh air.
And if people think it’s
funny – I really couldn’t care!
October 2007