When?

When did I start to feel old?

When did the aging set in?

Was it Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday?

At week’s beginning or at the weekend?

I know it wasn’t a Thursday

for Thursdays I’m just up to speed.

It couldn’t have been on a Friday

for on Fridays there’s nothing I need.

Did it sneak in my house in the winter,

when bones ache with moisture and cold?

Could aging have begun in the spring?

Spring’s a time of growth, so I’m told.

Of course, it must have been in the summer,

when everyone’s dying of heat.

But maybe, just maybe, ‘twas autumn

that aging was felt in my feet.

I just can’t think when aging was started.

I don’t even know if I’m old.

So if you ask me the onset of aging,

I can’t tell you ~ your story’s your own.

“There is always some specific moment when we become aware that

our youth is gone; but, years after, we know it was much later.”

~ Mignon McLaughlin