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WARNING !
 
When I am old 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 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 and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go.
Live on 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.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
 
But maybe I ought to practice a little now ?
 
So people who know me are not shocked and surprised,
 
When suddenly I am old,
 
And start to wear purple.
 
by Jenny Joseph