An ode: Phased Out

I’m a 92-year-old great-grandmother, with, I hope, some life left to face

But these days I go here and there and everywhere And I cannot find my ‘place’; Here I sit at my computer, perplexed, confused and puzzled;

How am I as a citizen, to make it, maybe just one more year?

How do I cope with all this new technical gear? Do I just carry an iPod in a bag, or Just glue a cellphone to my ear? Been told by many “you are just out of date”

There is no ‘conforming’ any more

And this is what it’s all about — ‘phased out’

This older generation, of which there are thousands

Are just gradually being phased out.

We still have a heart and blood and bones We did not turn into a piece of stone Our loved ones put us in the care of others

And if we’re lucky they visit a couple of times a year

And talk of putting us in a nursing home.

Yesterday I and my sister corresponded by pen and ink

And put a stamp on an envelope white, but can’t do that any more

The price of a postage stamp just went out of sight,

Now to pay a bill pen and paper just will not do

They make sure I have a legal ID, hold the check a moment

Stamp something on it with a machine then hand it back to you! Then up my spine goes a chill, The company I’m dealing with charges me $3.50 for sending me the bill!

What do I do with it now? It’s not good you can plainly see

Phased out, that’s what we are my friends and me.

We are considered less than sidewalk debris

Your turn is coming soon, my friends

You’d think our offspring would thank us for what we did for them

Like reading them a story before they sleep, like holding them

And walking them in our arms when they were sick

Your turn is coming soon my friend, an older person’s life is hard

Oh, did you have a ‘name’ in that other world?

Or was it only a number on a plastic card? GENE ROYALTY RICHISON Yuma