Thursday, March 27, 2008

This Thing Called "Age"

Age.

There’s no neutrality in this word.
No indifference.
No middle ground.
Either you hate it or you embrace it.
Even putting down your age in
innocent-looking official forms
is not neutral
--it can either open windows or close doors.

Age can limit a person,
Or become a passport to freedom.

It can gain one credibility,
Or it can make one a lightweight.

It can be a source of contention,
Or be the tie that binds.

It can make one sophisticated
Or soaking wet behind the ears.

It can be covered up with a lie,
Or declared out loud with pride.

It can make one reckless and brave,
Or scare one witless.

It can prove a point,
Or disprove some prejudice.

It can be a subject of ridicule,
Or trigger an amazed gasp.

It can be a goldmine for jokes
Or a can of worms.

It can be embraced eagerly,
Or fought against tooth and nail.

It can be a rude shock
Or a pleasant surprise.

What of you,
what do you think of age?

Whatever you think of it,
this is just to let you know: it’s my birthday
(says the attention-deficient blogger)

So, I guess you know where I stand
in the emotional pendulum on this subject matter.

18 comments:

Swipe said...

nice. happy birthday.

Anonymous said...

I knew it!, the title screams "it's my birthday" hehe Happy Birthday Gypsy!

Abaniko said...

Hapi, hapi bday!

Wil said...

Happy birthday, Gypsy! Hopefully you did something fun to celebrate it. :D

exskindiver said...

happy birthday gyps,
nice post.
and it did not even scream its my birthday to me.
just thought provoking verses on age.
i liked it.

Sreisaat said...

Suosdei, Gyps.
I like this poem. A lot. Kung di mo lang birthday, akala ko ay dedicated sa akin ito. Hehehe. Pareho pala ang birthmonth natin. End of the month naman ang bday ko...so Happy Birthday to us!!

Anonymous said...

Gypsy, we will make up for the birthdays we've missed celebrating (mine and yours) when you return to the Phils! Hope you had a great birthday. :)

Anonymous said...

Belated bitrhday greetings!

" Don't just count your years, make your years count."
~ Ernest Meyers ~

Unknown said...

Oi! Belated Happy Birthday, Siobe. Pakain ka pag balik mo ha? ;-)

carlotta1924 said...

hi~! belated happy birthday Gypsy! God bless! =)

James Higham said...

Happy Birthday to you - may I add my best wishes.

Anonymous said...

Happy belated bday Gypsy ... you're b'day is d same as Ruth's - but somehow I don't think you were playing musical chairs & pass the parcel! :-)
God's richest blessings on the coming year.
San

GingGoy said...

belated happy birthday, gypsy

zherwin said...

belated happy birthday. we, born in march, sure know how to say it's our birthdays. :)

Anonymous said...

Very nicely written poem! I like it too. :)

Belated happy birthday, Gypsy.

Forever59er said...

what am insightful well written piece about the unmentionable .. haha. the best is to wear it like a badge of pride and to heck. do i? i am d owner of ode2old ain't i? an open announcement of being old. Jusy how old -- i wanna keep em guessing.

happy birthday. Gypsy. celebrating a birthday abroad is not an unmixt blessing. biut its one for the memory book.

Gypsy said...

Thank you so much friends for your greetings! My birthday would never have felt complete without blog friends' greetings! I had a super great time with food (of course) fun and surprises! :-)

Unknown said...

I love your poem. It reflects exactly my sentiments...but I guess the majority of them are on the negative rather than the positive side hahaha.

Belated happy birthday. Magka-birth month pala tayo! :D