The lovely Kamsin is running a linky which challenges us writers to take a prompt and produce either a poem or piece of prose and this week she challenged us to think about old age. The prompt is 'When I am Old I Shall...' so I decided to give it a whirl and here's what I came up with.
When I am old I shall spend time looking back. Nostalgia has always been very attractive to me, I love a good rummage through the past, where naturally everything was better.
I love looking back on my childhood holidays. Long sunny days spent on a beach, building sandcastles, eating ice-cream. Long visits to my Grandma’s, walking round wheat filled fields, lounging in the orchard listening to the gentle buzz of bees and wasps. Glasses of barley water, the smell of dry grass, feeling drowsy in the heat.
I love looking back on my teenage years. Discovering the world and trying it out. Platform shoes, clogs, Oxford bags, cheesecloth, hippy beads and floppy hats. Questionable fashion choices, bright red nail polish and hennaed hair. Glam rock, Saturday morning discos, dancing in formation, cigarettes behind the bus stop.
I love looking back on my college days. Independent living, learning to roll my own cigarettes, beer and darts. Rag week, last minute essay panic, frenzied kisses at the disco. Dungeons and dragons, political awakening, Rock Against Racism.
When I am old I shall disappear into the past, listen to David Cassidy and David Bowie and smile, remembering when I was young, possible foolish but always happy.
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