# May Challenge - Young and Old



## Baron

The theme for the May challenge, suggested by toddm, is *"Young and Old".

*Remember that you may approach the subject in whatever way you wish, though of course site rules apply. If you are unsure of the challenge rules please read the 'stickies' at the top of the board, it is disheartening to disqualify people for things like a trivial edit, but the rules will be applied.

This challenge will close on the *30th May 2012. 

**Please make sure that your work is properly formatted before pressing the submit button. Work edited after posting may be excluded from the challenge. Do not post comments in this thread. Any discussions should be posted in the Bards' Bistro.*


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## Baron

*Berries*
​

Berries from the Rowan tree,
spotted in the coarse carpet of needles
from the evergreens that lined
a pathway down to where the forest
tapered off, as the green hill
sloped away towards the crashing
motion of the autumn sea.

Windy voices rustled through
rusty leaves of purple boughed
deciduous trees, 
which had decided
that they’d hold on to their foliage
through the season and that winter’s bite
would stay 
far, far away from them that year.

Their gilded gowns would still
adorn their branches ‘til the
time the following spring 
at last appeared.

Ruddy patterns in the evening sky
contrasted with the dying blue -
succumbing to the purple hues of night.

Migratory birds chose not to fly but nested
high, to watch the season fail to change;
except when hunger stirred them into flight,
while the creatures of the forest 
felt a peace that had subdued all natural fear.

All waited for a new year born
without the taste of cold north winds,
carried nature’s prophesy  -
countdown of time’s end 
declared in seasons that no longer 
turned to suit the calendar of man;
knowing that the dawn was near -
fulfilment of the mighty plan laid down 
before the sun and moon
began to shine upon the new-formed
earth.  A promise made in blood
red as the Rowan berries that all
of creation would be bought
and brought to knowledge 
of the second birth.


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## LaughinJim

*First Steps*

She let go of her mother’s hands.
One, two, three steps to the wall;
She turns around, on her bottom she lands.
Mother rushes to break the fall.

Sitting there laughing, the tiny tot succeeds.
Mother cries silently. Her husband sips his Scotch.
I look at the father; my son has no needs.
How much more time will God grant me just to watch?


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## toddm

*Elsie Hawkins*

Elsie was a little girl who happened to grow old. 
Her pale blue eyes retained the same sparkle 
they had when, back in her school-days in Wiltfordshire, 
she would chase the boys over some feigned outrage 
and, upon catching them, would kiss them until they turned crimson.

The wrinkles that now covered her face would pose a difficulty 
to all but the most astute cartographer. 
They had a tendency to become little overflowing river valleys 
when, upon her hearing old Billy Cotton songs on the phonograph, 
her eyes would release quiet tears over remembered joys.

When approached by her little great-grandchildren, 
she would smile a summer’s worth of sunshine 
and clasp each one around the face with her crooked hands.
Nearly singing she would say: “Oh Robert [or Sara or Peter or Caroline], 
Granny Elsie loves you so so much!”

She would hug them each until they started to squirm
and then bequeath a peppermint a piece
before they all tumbled away laughing.
She would gaze off in their direction with a lingering smile
long after they had disappeared elsewhere in the house.


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## Gumby

*Vanilla Memories *[FONT=&Verdana]

Who came to steal
my childhood dreams?
I only glanced away
it seems.

I left them here
to keep them safe
when Freudian trips
couldn't heal the waif.
To wallow deep
in warm embrace
gently press them
to my face
breathe the sweet
vanilla scent, of life 
before my youth was spent.

Who came to steal
my childhood dreams?
I only glanced away
it seems.[/FONT]


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## Chesters Daughter

*Back When Watermelons Were Cheap*

A steady stream
of seventies super hits
forever echo
in the corridors
of my mind.

Welcome relics
of simpler times
when two pairs 
of calloused hands
soothed every sorrow
and the future stretched
across a horizon
hued the blush
of daybreak.

Sweltering summer nights
spent upon a cot
in the living room
caressed by
the wheezing breath
of an ancient window fan.

The old black and white
demanded a short sprint
followed by a twist of the wrist
to switch channels,
and whole watermelons 
cost but a dollar.
A life as yet unspoiled
by luxury or tragedy.

Way back,
when conversation
was first priority
and pinochle ruled Saturday nights,
its enslaved subjects
attending Sunday Mass
with full sets of baggage
beneath eyes of ruby.

Before the future
became the present - 
its horizon stained
the scarlet of harlots' rouge -
and pushing buttons
replaced playful banter.

Before adored hands
slowed then stilled
and began to reek of rot,
poisoning my world,
its luster lost eternally.

I'd readily relinquish
ten of my remaining years
for one more night 
upon that narrow cot,
belly bursting with watermelon,
as those hands shuffled cards
'til church bells beckoned.


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## TheBelindaAngel

*     To the Journey of woman. * 



  The crone sits on the stoop;
  Stooped still with her furrowed brow.
  How does she smile in the sunset light 
  While little mites pull her at her hair?

  Bare feet in the kitchen slap the floor
  As for the house she sweats her time out through pores, 
  Ores found in this mine are love and devotion.

  The ocean waves lap upon a firm behind and
  While she lilts her chin to the kin who see her sin and smile…
  Time will bring her to the stoop to soon 
  So let her flitter inside the idea of youth 
  Before the fear of old age rages within.

  This thing is good; we know in the end. 
  Although we send the knowledge back; 
  Youth lacks the surety of the mother’s maturity
  So maids, ensure you wield your beauty and certainty - certainly.


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## lcg

_*Young and Old

*_There are two of me living in my soul,
One so young, one so old.

One bubbling with zest for life,
Straining to cross every threshold.
Other so tainted with strife,
Crippled by the world's mould.

One so innocent,
with hope colouring every dream.
One so belligerent,
with every wish coming as a scream.

At every turn, two of them pull me apart
Sometimes, turning the world so rosy, sometimes making it so stark.


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## obi_have

There was an old man from Duluth
Who remembers the days of his youth.
He recalls every thought,
Which is saying a lot
For a guy who's so long in the tooth.


And then there's the teen who's from Lawton
Who's brain cells are feeble and rotten.
He's my waiter for lunch
But I have a strong hunch
That my order's been long since forgotten.


You could say I'm a mix of the two.
My mem'ry's not great -- it'll do.
I remember with ease
Where I am, but my keys...
Oh wow! I do not have a clue!


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## Nick

*Tree Father

*You’re the tree that faltered
when it asked to cradle me.
I broke my leg and learned to walk
wonky. Bad habits by bad branches.
Your branches.

Now I know those lines on your bark.
I can trace your features, and I know your
stepping stones that lead me to the top.
I take them, and with trust I lean on your
trunk.
Things look bigger when you’re young. 
Grander.
Stronger.
I never realised your arms were twigs.
I plunge to the grass, onto your fruit and
shedding skin.
All you can do is weep for yourself.
I could hold you, but the sap is drying.
Soon you’ll shed your responsibilities again.

I am the vein that runs through your roots.
I am the branches that strengthen for children’s legs.
I am the leaves that happily burden you.
I am the fruit that sits on your shoulders, 
and I’ll rot on the ground at your feet.


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## bearycool

*The Locket*

*The gentle key of which we hold
The shining metal in glory gold
The little locket in our hearts
Waiting for the Key to turn.

Oh key of gold I wish you’d show
And place yourself within my heart,
Then open wide my little heart
And let myself come pouring out.

The tiny heart, the heart of youth,
That’s locked away in aged old thoughts.
To go and find that aged old youth
Is to find the greater good.

So simple is this little deed
But hard it is, it is indeed;
To take the locket in our hearts
And bring to eyes that have forgot.

The gentle key of which we hold
The shining metal in glory gold
The little locket in our hearts
Waiting...
Waiting...
For the key to turn...*


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## aj47

Generation Gap

When I was your age,
We didn't have blah blah blah.
You have it easy.

Do you wish you had it then,
Or that we don't have it now?​


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## vangoghsear

The Path

  youth travels 
  in the paths of the old
  and believes they are leading


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## Fats Velvet

*Bildungsroman*

Bildungsroman


Adults in wonder
ask children,
What's the hurry,kids?​You can'trun​out                                          ​of​life​to​live.


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## Bachelorette

Lucy
_inspired by a character from the 1990 movie “Awakenings,” based on a true story._

arrested at age 22,
locked in a prison 
of tainted nature’s making,
lucy looks out of
blank blue eyes
that see but never smile.
alive but not living,
she is moved, but cannot move.
her will stands paralyzed
like a panther behind his bars,
but beyond her bars
a whole waking world
she cannot affect or touch.
as her jail wastes away,
gray and crumbling,
lucy will never recover
what still blooms inside,
the youth that cries, cries,
not against the dying
of the light—which
still is burning in
her years of twilight—
but against the decay
of the candle that drips
seconds off her still life,
where lucy has been 
painted into a corner,
and is 22 for always.


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## Baron

This challenge is now closed.


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## ToddM.

I read through all of this wonderful poetry, and have found it a true inspiration to write my own. Thank You.


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## toddm

ToddM. said:


> I read through all of this wonderful poetry, and have found it a true inspiration to write my own. Thank You.



Glad you liked the poems!

At first I thought someone had hacked into my account, since I saw a comment by ToddM I know I didn't make : ) nice name! : )

welcome to the forums

---toddm


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## Gumby

Two Todd M's? Uncanny! Glad you enjoyed the challenge entries.


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