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Open Poetry #49
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Being Honest
| Open Poetry #49 |
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Being Honest |
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Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere 
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Being honest at eighteen is a whole different ballgame than being honest at eighty. At eighteen you don’t know that most every answer to every question about you is I don’t know. It is hard to be honest with the world when you think you know enough to get you to thirty. Thirty is as far as you can imagine yourself to be at eighteen. We are too young to imagine ourselves old. We would rather die first. At eighty you know what you don’t know. At eighty, you get to be nothing but honest. You don’t have time for anything else . You have accepted that your life is what it is, and you are okay with that. When you are eighty you don’t waste your time wishing you were eighteen. With any luck at all our heads will get to eighty before our bodies do. |
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| © Copyright 2014 Lori Grosser Rhoden - All Rights Reserved | |||
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Hah! Knock off five years from that eighty, Lori, and you have written about me. Good stuff. If they give you ruled paper write sideways. |
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Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
I did write about you...you are one of the lucky ones who's head got to eighty before their body did!  |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Ahhh . . . I sorta thought I recognized me in a few stops. If they give you ruled paper write sideways. |
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latearrival Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499Florida |
Well Lori, I am over eighty and I just wish I had my 18 year old body with the mind set I have now.I was always a little bit of an old lady in mind but now I have the reality.Best to you. |
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JL Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128Texas, USA |
WHAT?? When I was 18, I was the smartest guy around, and anyone over thirty was pretty numb-minded, especially my parents. Well, until I turned 21, then my parents, all of a sudden, became pretty darn smart, and I learned to control my mouth, and think. Thanks for the reminder, great write!! JL |
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BluesSerenade Member Patricius
since 2001-10-23
Posts 10549By the Seaside |
There ya go Lori. Great thoughts to ponder. |
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jwesley Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563Spring, Texas |
I sure as hell don't want to go back to 18 . . . but mid twenties or a little more - - - now that would be hard to pass on! I'm 70 and though I now see some things that would have made a difference, I truly don't lament a one of them --- sure, some of the "losses", but then, even those made me what I am today... even though that's not a pretty thought/sight/feeling/etc... Enjoyed my friend... j. |
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Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Jo, JL, Lori and Jimmy I'd give anything to have my 18 yr old body back but you couldn't pay me enough to do it all over again. (unless of course, like Jo, I had the mindset of today) Things would be waaay different. I would have graduated from college for one thing and sidestepped a whole lotta drama. But I will say this, bad times brought out my muse. |
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secondhanddreampoet Member Ascendant
since 2006-11-07
Posts 6394a 'Universalist' ! |
v. well said !! some of us though, are forced to the realization of 'all that we do not know' long before 80 The older I've gotten, the more I've had to defer to H.D. Thoreau who may have summed it up for all time with ... "All my knowledge only brings me ever that much closer to my ignorance" Men think they 'know' many things But lo, they have taken wings All the 'arts' and the 'sciences' And myriad appliances ... The wind that blows Is far, far more than any man truly 'knows' ... and though it may be a cliche, unfortunately, it 'rings true' ... Individuals (and nations) that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
A fellow passed a house with a little red light burning in front, so he stepped inside. There was nothin in sight but an empty bare hallway, with 2 doors reading "Over 35" and "Under 35". He decided to be truthful and entered the door that said "Over 35". He found himself in another empty hallway, this one with 2 doors that read, "Over 8 inches" and "Under 8 inches". Truthful again, he went through the "Under 8 inches" door and found himself in another empty hall, with 2 more doors reading, "Once a night" and "Many times a night". Still wanting to be truthful, he entered the door marked "Once a night" and found himself back out on the street. The moral of this story is "Always tell the truth and you'll never get screwed." If they give you ruled paper write sideways. |
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
Well, dear Lori, quite some stuff to ponder ... I never wished to go back in time, but like you a younger body wouldn't be so bad at all! For the rest let's cling to evolution, evolution ... it will lead us to somewhere sometime! Hugs, dear Lori Poetess. Margherita (for the joy of Christmas caps! |
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Marchmadness Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271So. El Monte, California |
I can't tell you how many times I have thought the same thing. I am seventy and wouldn't want to be eighteen again unless I could take my seventy year old mind with me. Ida |
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Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Margherita, Thanks so much for the comments. But thank you most of all for calling me a poetess. That means the world to me coming from you. |
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Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Ida, I love it that we are of like mind and you are 70! It gives me peace and contentment about the future. Bless your heart. |
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