Less able, less worthy, less useful,
more vulnerable, weak, needing care?
There’s life left in the old girl yet,
she can cope with wispy hair.
It’s true, the hair’s become thinner
and there are lines on show,
eyebrows have quite disappeared
and ears continue to grow,
the bones in the face are weird,
etchings splay around the mouth
they run off from skinny dipping lips
and the chin, the chin makes a pointy witch,
plus, a neck of crepe doesn’t look so great.
A comfort is that so many relate,
and only the lucky get old.

Rewritten 2023

Re-imagining Ageing Lab4Living & Sheffield Library (2022)