Until the Age of 99 ... Plus 1 Year More

Until the Age of 99 ... Plus 1 Year More

Teardrops rolling down my cheeks
Plump and round ... I press one
Smile through my tears

My cheeks feels cool
Just as the earth must feel
After a rain shower

For some time now
Death has been on my mind
Not in a bad or morbid way

I'm reflecting on losing my son five years ago
Two deaths this past week
Two people I knew in childhood

I'm filled with sadness and the thought
That could be me
I wonder who would feel sadness for me

I feel sadness for people I don't know
People I do know and don't like
People I do like, know

Death is always close by ... waiting
Life is more fragile than one realizes
It can change in an instant

How many times has mine done so
If yours hasn't ... it will be hard to believe
You are less than invincible

I was like that at one time you see
On top of the world ... you can't knock me down
I was going to save the world, believe it or not




Well, the world hasn't been saved
My strength ebbed away with the years
My mind changed when I became aware of what I was up against

I'm but a drop of water in a pond
Without all the water ... my ripple can barely be seen
Only in the world around me can my strength be felt

Even that is ebbing away as I get older
Why am I here and so many gone before me
Were they more special than I?

Death is on my mind in a good way
A way that I sit it out in the open
Walk around it ... study it from every angle

I face up to things that scare me
Meet them head-on ... either I'm going on
Going on with my life ... or I'm simply ... going to die

What will it be, Death?
Am I going to live or am I ... going to die?
I'm still here ... I wonder if Death laughs at me?


I bluster up with a pretense of bravery
Oh no, I won't back down
When really ... I'm afraid ... I'd back down in a moment

Does Death see that ... toy with me?
I'm sure it does because life is fragile
It can take you, me in an instant

My teardrops clear, pure as diamond stones
Roll down my cheeks as I reflect
Upon this life ... and death as I see it

Life ... death walk hand in hand
Just as love ... hate do the same
One is always close by the other

Have you thought of such
I live, I die ... I love, I hate
You can't have one without the other


I'm going to live until I die
I can't die unless I live
I can love without hating

I'll dance my life with Death
Twirl, spinning like a ballerina
Death constantly trying to claim me as I live

                                                    Rest in Peace our Sweet Chadwick Elsworth ...


I've danced out of its grasp
Time after time ... body weakened, broken
To get up time and again, ready to dance another song

I'm always sad when someone dances the last song
Especially when they are loved by so many
Myself ... only my World loves me ... Skip and our Pups

Others are missed by many ... children, spouses, family, friends
I'm sad because when one's gone
They leave a huge hole in the fabric of life

I think about my life and the hole
Left in the fabric of my life when I'm gone
I'll leave a small hole easily patched, no one will notice

That's okay with me ... I'll leave peace and quiet
Behind me as I go ... oh, I'll leave my many words
I've sat, typed through the years in cyberspace

I'll live on through the years now
People will remember me in that way
See my photos, know I was a person ... a good person

I don't have a child to carry on the memory of me
Worse, my grandchildren will never know me
I learned to accept this long ago ... that's why I write

Write about the colors of my life
Happy colors, dark colors ... they go hand in hand
You can't have happiness without sadness

Life is that way ... you'll have good as well as bad
You can't have all without the other
If so, I wonder if I envy you?

Why? Because to become the person I am today
I've had to experience bad, awful things to understand
What life's all about ... appreciate, be grateful for all I have

If I've learned anything that's important about life
It's to always be grateful, appreciate, love ... go out of your way
To help someone come up in life, even if it's only one step up




Others will come and do their ... one step up
Never bring anyone down ... if you can't help just go away
Life is fragile ... Death always has it by the hand

In a moment, it can take us down
Choosing someone we love deeply ... or choose ... us
Sometimes ... I am just afraid

I'll just keep writing, dancing to the tune of Life
Until one day when I'm tired of dancing
I will lay down on the floor ... wait for Death to take me

Come take me Death ... I'll whisper softly
I'm ready to let Life go ... take me into your embrace
Death will laugh at me in delight

No!  It's not time for you to go!
You'll dance to the tune of Life many years more
You'll dance until you are 99 plus 1 year more

You won't get out of living life so easily
Though I walk hand in hand with Life
Doesn't mean you get to choose when I take you

So, dance a good song of life every chance you have
Be ready for me at any time ... I'll be watching
Leave behind only good memories of you

To patch the little hole in the fabric of Life
You leave behind ... you are right ... no one will notice
You are gone but, that's all right

Less sadness in the world we live in
The better for us all ... your words will touch others
In the future to come ... give them hope to live their life

You will live on where others will die ... only to be thought of
Your written words will be everywhere to be found
Just at the right time by the right person

To give them hope after experiencing all Life throws at them
Let them know that no matter what
Everything's going to be all right ... no matter how bad

Let them know that no matter how bad
Everything is still ... good
To think about it ... everything really is ... going to be all right

I'll dance to the tune of Life
Twirling, spinning like a ballerina
Until ... the age of 99 plus 1 year more!

Photos, Artwork, Poem are all owned, written by Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee on Facebook/@grannygee on World Famous Writers/@geegranny on Twitter