My Get UP and Go Has Got Up and Went!

 

 

 

 How do I know my youth has been spent 

Well my get up and go has got up and went.

But in spite of it all I’m able to grin,

When I think of the places my get up has been.

Old age is golden, so I’ve heard it said

But sometimes I wonder, as I get into bed.

With my ears in a drawer, and my teeth in a cup

And my eyes on the table until I get up.

Ere sleep dims my eyes, I say to my self

“Is there any thing else I should lay on the shelf”?

But I am happy to say as I close my door,

My friends are the same, only more even more.

When I was young, my slippers were red

I could kick up my heels over my head

When I grew older my slippers were blue

But still I could dance, the whole night thru.

Now I am old, my slippers are black

I walk to the store, and puff my way back.

The reason I know my youth is all spent

My get up and go has got up and went.

But I really don’t mind, as I reminisce

My get up and go gave me such wonderful bliss.

Since I am retired from life’s competition.

I busy myself with complete repetition.

I get up in the morning, dust off my wits

Pick up my paper, and read the obits.

If my name is missing I know I’m not dead

So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.

3 thoughts on “My Get UP and Go Has Got Up and Went!

  1. This poem was written by an elderly nun, but many people take credit for it (what else is new?) She had a great sense of humor and should have been remembered for it. It saddens me to see the pic of a half-dressed old man representing the poem, but I guess there’s not much I can do about it. Seems the younger generations might show us older people a bit more respect, but then I am only responsible for what I do. And I say, “God bless all of you; it’ll all get sorted out properly on the Next Level.”

    • I found this on Google thought you might be interested.Note added later: Mike Halloran emailed me the following: “According to Pete Seeger’s autobiography, he learned that the writer was a newspaper man. He contacted the author to offer him credit and royalties for the song. The man refused both wishing to remain anonymous. Pete Seeger claims to be the only one who knows the true identity of the author.” I guess that settles it. It’s anonymous!

      Note added even later: I just received another email: “I know for a fact that this was published in a St Louis newspaper, most likely the Globe-Democrat which is now defunct, between 1940 and 1960 (probably between 1950-1955), and those dates fit in with your story of being from ‘a newspaper writer’. My aunt, who would have been married about 1940, had clipped it from a newspaper and posted it on her bulletin board when I was a kid & old enough to read it, (around 1957-1960) and it did not look old or yellowed.”

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  2. I recall reading this in one of my dad’s newsletters from his work during the mid-1950’s. He worked for the Iowa State Highway Commission ( now called Department of Transportation ).

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