Cantankerous (Sometimes I think)

03/04/2021 – Poem a Day Compilation



Sometimes I think you’re crotchety

An old man sitting in your chair

Annoyed at the world around you

And taking it out on all of us



Sometimes I think you’re just stubborn

Set in your ways since forever

Unable to change how you live or love

And unwilling to make any compromise



Sometimes I think you’re bloody-minded

Deliberately setting yourself at odds

With the rest of the family

Who only want you to be happy



Sometimes I think you’re ill-natured

From a life too hard to comprehend

And I wouldn’t surprise me in the least

If it played on your mind all too often



Sometimes I think you’re being testy

And it takes little to set you off

Your temper quick to irritate

And you’re becoming increasingly impatient



Sometimes I think you’re simply cranky

Grumbling about all of life’s woes

How nothing ever seems to be easy

And life is one struggle after another



Sometimes I think you’re grumpy

And grouchy and gruff and aggrieved

The whole world seems to be against you

Even if that’s in your own mind



Sometimes I think that you’re crabby

A surly curl to your top lip

Snapping and overly combative

Over even the most minor of things



Sometimes I think you’re temperamental

Prone to bouts of unreasonableness

With your quarrelsome nature overriding

All the good that hides deep inside



Sometimes I think you’re petulant

Like a child who can’t get their way

Arrogantly insisting everyone fall in line

Like a boorish sergeant-major



Sometimes I think you’re obnoxious

Acting out in spite against all who care

Making for many a prickly encounter

When it could have been so very different



Sometimes I think you’re cantankerous

But I know that’s not all that you are

And I must summon all my strength

To make it out from the cloud around you

Almost, Nearly, Not Quite

05/11/2020 – Poem a Day Compilation



I suppose you could say

I’m pretty long in the tooth

There are more grey hairs than not

And more wrinkles than I’d like



I’m definitely getting on a bit,

My knees don’t work like they used to

My hands shake from time to time

And I forget a word or two.



There are some who say I’m over the hill

But not sure I’d go quite that far

Because what they’re putting down to senility

Is just a few quirks of my character



I’m no spring chicken, that’s for sure –

I won’t be running any marathons

Or competing to the Tour de France –

But not a lot do that when they’re young.



People think you’re past it when you’re old

But, really, you have so much left to give

And you can still make a valuable contribution

When you’ve got all that experience.



If you think you’re not long for this world

Then you’re probably right, my friend,

But if you keep yourself engaged

There’s no reason to slow down.



I’m not as young as I used to be –

Sometimes I fall asleep on the couch

Or forget why I walked into a room –

But that doesn’t mean it’s the end.



I might be as old as the hills

As my granddaddy used to say

But I can still weave a good yarn

And fill a room with love.



For someone of my advanced years,

Having spent our prime in service of others,

I’m looking forward to a bit more time

To spend on those things I’ve neglected.



So, though I’m getting up in years,

I’m not quite on the final leg

I’m nearly ready to hang up the boots

But almost means I’m not there yet.