It's difficult to come to terms

With the passing of the years;

The changes in our attitudes

And all our hopes and fears.

At 10, the world is magical,

Each day a thing of mystery.

Anyone past 30 is

A relic out of history.

At 20, you are confident

The universe is there.

For you to take and rule it;

Let older folk beware.

At 30, you are steadying,

With wife and kids to keep.

Still smiling at the elderly,

With their after dinner sleep.

Life begins at 40,

You're still in your prime,

Doing all you used to do,

Just takes a longer time.

At 50, it occurs to you

You now are one of those

Who used to seem the ancient

With bald patch and hairy nose.

At 60, you have knowledge

And experience galore.

It's such a shame that no one

Wants to use it any more.

And yet you feel no different

Than you did throughout your ages.

The book of life still reads the same --

You've just turned over a few pages.

Alan Johnson

Winter Hey Lane

Horwich

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.