Sweet bird of youth are you
As charm has no age
Nor does beauty
Except in the quality of its “earned” antiqueness
If we speak of a tangible thing…
But in the ageless beauty of people,
Developed through their existence
Enumerated by the turning of calendar pages,
I say to you
Forget your numbered years except to mark
Them by your wisdom and in the strength
Of knowing yourself…
Where age has become friend…
A gift
Wrapped in your smile
And tied in the warmth of your hand shake.
Numbers are but dates marked by birthday candles
Or time on clocks and watches
Or answers on calculators
Or dialed for telephone conversations
Or to measure, somehow, one’s worth
In dollars and cents…
Live as though born yesterday or today
With a whole world of things to do before you!
With the value of your knowledge,
Laugh, enjoy!
God smiles on you!
Sweet bird of youth,
Click your heels while the rest of your aged world
Takes to their rocking chairs!
By Dorothy Alves Holmes
A Poet Who Loves To Sing