Another kind of Ageing
Do you remember
when creamy milk came in bottles
delivered early.
Foil caps lifted like hats on frosty mornings
with frozen plugs
pecked out by blue tits.
I do.
When all the fruit and veg were seasonal
and gluts were bottled in Kilner jars
but not strawberries.
And you felt that you could not face
pulling off another frozen brussels sprout from the stem.
When there were twelve heavy pennies to the shilling
and twenty of those to the pound.
And a white, crinkly five-pound note was a rare sighting
I remember.
Nowadays my memory is not so hot.
I cannot recall
where I put the keys
or whether I cancelled the newspapers
or paid a bill.
Names slip around like skaters on ice,
and appointments are written
down and underlined thrice
post-it notes are stuck up everywhere.
But there is another kind of ageing
called maturing.
Where compassion is the first emotion
and wisdom comes from simplicity
and love is all that matters.
Where Gaiea is a small blue dot
and the world is trapped in a mystery
of seeds each to their own purpose.
Where the body is weathered and frail
but the soul’s song is strong and
looking forward to going home.
Fearing nothing except
creeping uncertainty.
Viv Longley has been writing for her own pleasure since she was a child. Later in life she completed an MA in Creative Writing at The Open University, specialising in poetry. As well as having one collection (Tally Sheet, Currock Press, 2021) she has undertaken two collaborative publications with Sue Brice and Jane Keenan – Daughters of Thyme and Home Thyme. In addition she is near to completing a second collection of her own including a number of essays and has contributed over ten years to publications from Agbrigg Writers .
She also teaches Creative Writing and its pleasures and has edited one publication – Beyond Words, Agbrigg Writers, 2025.
Amethyst Review 