An Ode to Age

Age can be a pathetic thing. You realize you’re no longer as good-looking as you used to be. You find it hard to recall what happened five minutes ago – let alone what happened in your childhood. Where did you go all this time? Finally you’ll admit the cruel fact: you’re old.

In your gray existence, you’ll wonder what happened to your youth. Did you really know your family? And what the heck happened to school? You only remember the endless glasses of cheap beer you had with your happy-time mates. Followed by a one-night-stand with a hottie you met at a club. Yeah… it was a taste of heaven back then.

Until she came along, swearing that the little rascal she carried in her arms was your fault. Suddenly, you’re married.

 Losing your freedom was too much for you. Your so-called wife and son (or was it your daughter?) don’t satisfy you at all. Then you run away from the woman and child you never acknowledged as truly yours.

Since then you’ve lived on your own. Like everyone else, you have dreams and fantasies. But they are only for you. So there you were, living on your own, in quite a selfish way.

Slowly, the absence of company begins to consume you. Wealth, position… they have all deserted you. You regard the world with a pathetic hatred as you face it in your sad little solitude.

***  

Sometimes life is like a long road. The further you go, the harder it is to see what’s behind. But some of the scenery you pass leaves an imprint on your memory to last you a lifetime.

 The further you go, the harder it is to go on. Youth has abandoned you, leaving you to procrastinate with the plague of age. And so, you may welcome the prospect of stopping to rest in the everlasting sleep, to return to the place where we all belong.

Jalan Seni, Aksara 

2009