POEMS ABOUT AGEING

BENEATH THE GRAY HAIR

BENEATH THE GRAY HAIR

[Generation gap is due to the desire on the part of the young to reinvent the wheel]


What is all that lies beneath
A head of hair gray?
Is it disdain for the young?
Old men are wont to say:

“In our days we were so nice,
We respected elders.
We worked hard and were sincere,
Considerate to others!”

Those are not words spoken with
Ill feeling or ill wish.
They simply express how deep
Is their mental anguish.

‘We are right, the old are wrong’
The young THINK in their heart.
But that the young are not right,
The old KNOW on their part.

Everyone is free to do
What he thinks or he wants.
The old wish the young learn from
Their mistakes in advance!

The young are not content with
Contemplating old deal.
They wish to yet re-invent
Their own personal wheel!


* Written in abcb 7-6-7-6 format

M C Gupta

Created: 25 April 2005