When I grow old,
I want to smoke cigars.
Just to feel cool
as the smoke burns down my lungs
and runs out my nose.
I wanna upgrade from cheap liquor
to fine whiskey and ancient bottles of bourbon.
I wanna dress up in fancy suits
And fedora hats,
wear those polished fancy shoes
I see on every classy old guy,you know?
The ones polished so much you can smell the wax?
Even though I probably wouldn’t be going anywhere.
I want to be able to look at my wrinkley leather hands and say
“These hands have built memories, shaped the lives of my children
and not one bit of it was easy!”
Oh!
And I want my hair to turn grey!
Or maybe even white
because ever since I was 5,
I thought it looked so cool on old ladies.
I want to count little fingers and little toes,
and proudly announce to lewd strangers on the bus
that I, Rosie Palacios, have the most beautiful grandchildren In the world!
And I want a little old granny sitting next to me,
nodding her head.
Someone who I can call a crazy old b**** one second,
and kiss her cheek the next.
Someone I’ve been with so long,
I could describe every crease,
every laugh line on her face.
"See that thick line just above her brow?
That one is for everytime I messed up and she tried to leave me.
For every time I came crawling back to her,
begging her to love me.
That pinch between her eyebrows?
That meant tears were on the way
Like the day her mother died,
I thought it would never leave.
And those laugh lines,
well …you can already guess, can't you?”
Anyways,
I wanna say annoying old people things like
‘Back in my day’
Or ‘When I was your age…”
And show all the little kids the tattoos I would have collected
over the years,
adorning my arms like long sleeves.
And tell them all the soppy things like
“Live life to the fullest!"
And
“Take every opportunity that walks up to you!” "Except for meth! please do not ever try meth!"
But most of all!
I'd tell them,
“Don’t always listen to what your parents say because if you do…
You will never truly experience mistakes! And life is nothing but experience!”
Then I'd wink at their angry parents as I walk by.
When I’m old,
when I’m so old I can't walk without feeling the pain in my brittle bones,
I want to die.
Hopefully in my sleep,
cradling the picture of my long since passed wife
and holding the hand of my child.
Far too old to be holding hands but then loss…
is never easy.
Yeah,
I’ve got my senior years
down to my last breath,
But I’ve still got ALL the years in between now
And then.
SoIf you’ll excuse me,
I’ve got the rest of my life...
to live