Pancakes and Apple Tart

by Beth Garrett
(Northern Ireland)

My great aunt eats,
Pancakes and apple tart,
And stays in bed all day,
My grandmother thinks that,
She is trying to maintain,
Her figure,
But she is 97 and I think,
I think she is doing what she must,
To survive,
They had to take her bike away from her when she was in her early 90s,
And more recently had to tell her to stop going for walks.
I come from a long line of people,
Who refuse to acknowledge their old age.
My grandfather on my father’s side wrote poems and painted and had a girlfriend,
He went to the theatre,
Nobody stopped him from living,
Like he was in his 20s.
My great aunt has surely but slowly had everything,
Taken from her grasp,
And I think she is just,
So tired,
So she eats pancakes and apple tart,
And stays in bed all day.