You'll be bored, they used to say,
after all the years you've spent
among the workforce of the nation.
And I pondered what they meant.
Would I really miss the struggle?
Would I want to go back out
among that workforce of the nation?
NO! I won't, without a doubt.
I'll not collect another tax
or water bill or dog impound,
or attend a council meeting
my heart and mind are homeward bound.
My mind ran over all the years
I'd juggled work and school and home
without a moment of the day
to let creative juices roam.
I'd hit the floor running.
My stars! It's five a.m.
Got to do a load of laundry,
mop a floor while daylight's dim.
Run upstairs to take a shower,
shave my legs and wash my hair.
Steal a moment for some makeup
while deciding what I'd wear.
Get up! You'll be late for school
was my daily battle cry.
Run to get their breakfast ready.
My or my, how time does fly.
At five p.m. it was no diff'rent
from the morning of the day.
Either Cub Scouts, or band boosters,
go to church or P.T.A.
Was all this what they told me
I would miss when I left there?
At my age the race is over,
I'm now a tortoise - no more hare.
When I awake now in the morning
and it's dark or sun is high
it is a wonderful awakening
and I turn over with a sigh.
I'll get up if I want to.
I'll wear gown or pants or dress -
Whatever strikes my fancy -
but for sure - there'll be no stress.
I quilt or sew and I compute,
I cook or clean or watch TV,
I read the morning paper
Or try my hand at poetry.
I email with my children
and search on Internet
for things that might enlighten
or for low fares on a jet.
We fly off to north Virginia
or to New Mexico's sunsets.
Two grandsons' stunts delight us -
Retirement's good as it can get.
Roberta Snapp Price