The young girl thinks forty is ancient,
Says it must be the end of the line.
She just can’t believe life begins there,
Then finds that she’s reached thirty-nine.
Her forties are lived at full throttle,
Roaring around in top gear.
She tells anyone who will listen,
“Forty’s the new twenty my dear.”
At fifty she feels like a child still,
A stripling, in first flush of youth.
She changes her thoughts on old age,
Now sixty seems long in the tooth.
She’s sixty and life’s at its fullest,
The children are grown; she is free.
Has fun with her friends and her grand-kids,
Likes a laugh, and the odd “g and t.”
Now seventy she’s vibrant and active,
It’s lucky her body’s still tough.
She thinks that three score and ten years
Is a joke, not near long enough.
At eighty she slows just a little,
Trying to do as she’s told.
Of course, she now knows the secret,
Youth is more fun when you’re old.