In Hawaii you know you are old when
the twentysomething at the coffee shop
calls you ‘Uncle’ or ‘Auntie’
terms of endearment
of respect, of honoring the elderly
expressions with their roots in
the Asian way of life and thinking
where ‘old’ is not synonymous with ‘senile’
where older people are still regarded as
fountains of knowledge and experience
not deadwood waiting to die
obstacles to sweep out of the way
bodies to hide in special prisons
called nursing homes, retirement communities
assisted living facilities, or care homes
No, no, no, no, no,
life does not end at 70, or 80, or even 90
the elderly should be regarded as
valuable members of society
the pillars the young ones
can stand and build on
and when they look down from
standing on our shoulders
let them remember that
they too will be ‘Uncles’ or ‘Aunties’ one day
-
Author:
Alfred Peyer (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: December 15th, 2020 12:51
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 47
- Users favorite of this poem: Poetic Dan
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Comments5
Since I'm 81 years old and was born in Hawai'i, I can relate to this poem!
Mahalo Robert,
I am 72 and have been living in Hawaii for 32 years. I guess I am now a Kamaaina. Is that a Hawaiian shirt you are wearing in your picture? It kind of looks like a Rayn Spooner. And thanks for reading!
Aloha
Fred
Good Read. Great cultural link.
Thanks Jerry! Appreciate your comment.
Good write Fred.
Similar thing - clearing up the homeless from the streets, sometimes with a mentality of 'Sweep up the rubbish; they make the place look untidy!'
And preposterous if there are any on the streets, if a VIP is due to visit the town. 'Too embarrassing, what?!' say the upper classes.
You are so right orchie. We do have quite a few homeless here in Hawaii. At least they don't freeze to death! And with Covid 19 I expect the number of homeless to increase, unless something is being done and soon.
See there you go again! Giving the world what we need! Like it or not....
This should be posted everywhere my friend!
Thanks for the ripples 😉
What would I do without you here on MPS? Keep on trucking.....
Great write Fred. I was talking to a friend yesterday about this and in a similar vain, my grandfather, my father and now I say "That old boy down the road" where that old boy is probably younger than us.
Andy
Thanks Andy,
For us "Old boy" is very "British". One of my brother in law's here used to live in Guernsey and somehow I picked up and now use "bloody hell", another British expression.
What I tried to express in the poem is that we older folks do have something to contribute to society and that that fact should be acknowledged more widely. Look how hard it is for somebody in their fifties or sixties to find a job!
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