If I Lived to be 100 (poem) by Lori S. Maynard on AuthorsDen

If I Lived to be 100
by Lori S. Maynard → (All Poetry by Lori S. Maynard)
Rated "PG" by the Author.

Save

I was reading through a newspaper, when I had spotted an ad wishing someone a happy 103rd birthday. That got me to thinking...how lonely that must really be!!
If I lived to be 100, would you still be here with me? Would the world be too changed? Would I be as lonely? My family home...would it become a business parking lot? If I lived to be 100...would memories be long lost to rot? All my friends...ah, the other side of the door they'd be and would I have any family who'd love and shelter me? Would I spend my final days in a busy retirement home? If I lived to be 100...would I celebrate confused and alone? Would I talk of our computers and not be understood? Would current wars be forgotten...buried with the worm and wood? Would Wall Street be a worry...or would it find a new address? If I lived to be 100...would I have outlived all this mess? If I lived to be 100...would I still be blessed to keep my mind? Would I enjoy the changing of the seasons...or shall I, then, be blind? Would I have outlived a love...what memories shall shall a widow make? If I lived to be 100...would my soul be completely awake? All whom I had called a friend may be long lost to this world. All whom I had once cared for had forgotten about this girl trapped in an aging chest where memories are stored in cellophane. A life wrapped up in mothballs...ah, a heart now gone insane! If I lived to be 100...please, remember me in St Peter's line! Put in a good word for me as it draws closer to my time. Let there be love still surrounding me as this life grows ever colder. Let there still be warmth in our hearts as we grow ever older. *(c) October 10, 2008 Lori S. Maynard*

Reviewed by Regis Auffray

Reviewed on February 18, 2009

You provide much substance for reflection here, Lori. Thank you. Love and blessings,

Regis

Reviewed by Gene Williamson

Reviewed on October 12, 2008

Thoughtful, provocative. Think happy thoughts, Lori. -gene.

Reviewed by Karla Dorman, The StormSpinner

Such power in these lines, Lori - sad.

(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.

Reviewed by Felix Perry

Reviewed on October 11, 2008

I enjoyed this but it also made me a little sad for I too thought of what it would be like to outlive most friends and close family and find yourself celebrating a life with people you barely know anymore even though they may be related by blood.

fee

Reviewed by Edwin Hurdle

Hi Lori,your poem was very good and well written.It makes a person think about what life would be like if they reach 100 and all the possibilities that you have shared in this poem.I enjoy reading this poem and it is something that people will indeed think about in their sleep.take care

Edwin

Reviewed by Gwen Dickerson

Lori! You really nailed this one! You've written a well expressed and emotive poem -- one containing many valid questions. When I was younger, I would announce to my friends and family, that I wanted to live to be 100 yrs old. But as I got older, after seeing so many older family members and others struggle with alzheimers and other ailments (and after watching daily local and world events these past years as people get crazier and crazier) I realized that I didn't want to live nearly as long. That said, I'll probably live to be 100 (if the world is still intact) since so many family members all lived to be from 94 yrs to 102 yrs old! Oh well ... LOL!