24 July 2024

"When I am an old woman..."

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple 
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me. 
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves 
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter. 
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired 
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells 
And run my stick along the public railings 
And make up for the sobriety of my youth. 
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain 
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens 
And learn to spit. 

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat 
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go 
Or only bread and pickle for a week 
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. 

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry 
And pay our rent and not swear in the street 
And set a good example for the children. 
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. 

But maybe I ought to practise a little now? 
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised 
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple."
Reproduced in toto from the Scottish Poetry Library, "Warning" is a 1961 poem by Jenny Joseph that has become a long-time favorite of the reading public and an inspiration for the Red Hat Society.

3 comments:

  1. It always struck me as odd that the Red Hat Society celebrates individuality, but they all wear the same color hat. :-) [It doesn't much help that I don't particularly like purple, either.]
    Sandra

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  2. I joined the Red Hats when Mom lost her ability to safely navigate out of town. I made friends and had so much fun that I stayed after Mom passed. And now I have her hats.

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  3. In third grade I was very ungrateful when my surprised me with a bicycle with five speeds and a purple banana seat. "Thank you. I don't want it. I don't want it." "Why?" "How can you not know that is for a girl?" She's like, "Oh. Fine. Okay." She took it back to the store (Sears) and traded it for a single speed bike with a a black-and-yellow tiger-striped seat. Much better.

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