When I am old ......

When I am an old long dog woman
I shall wear tartan and agates
and an old hat with a feather that I
bought at a jumble sale

And I shall spend my meagre pension
on port wine and pig's ears
and sit in the shed where I keep the ferrets
just to watch their kits at play

And I will once more slip out in the middle
of a winter's night with my two old dogs
across a moon-struck meadow
to watch them course just one last hare

And when people call I will appear to listen
and mutter all the wrong noises at all the wrong times
I will serve rabbit pie to vegetarians
remove ticks in public
and continue to spit




I will drive my old van and wear dog's hairs
on my clothes as if they were jewels
and I will be an embarassement to all
who have not found the peace of being free
to call long dogs their truest friends

Friends who wait at the midnight hour
with tails a wag and eager eyes
for the kind of woman I will be when I am old.

Julia Line
July 2013 - written for my 66th birthday which is imminent