An odd poem plus two more

As promised, an odd poem.

To an armpit
Smooth or stubbly?
Hairy or shaved?
Smelly or perfumed?
Rarely sees the sun. 

Smooth as a baby’s bum
That changes as puberty hits.
Smooth skin wrinkles over the years
Making shaving more difficult
If that’s your preference. 

All parts of the body are necessary
But what does an armpit do?
It connects an arm to a body
A hollow under the arm 

A sweaty place perhaps
A term used to insult a place
A place to put our hands
To keep them warm in winter 

The May 'Write Poetry' zoom workshop was sort of about aging or certainly about time passing.  The first exercise was about writing about the passing of time and a body part.  I actually wrote this after the session and a bit tongue-in-cheek!

The second exercise was about choices made either by me or by someone else which impacted me.

Subject
Not good enough for science
Nor good at art
Lousy at languages
Really just a spare part. 

Allowed two ‘A’ levels
Rather than three.
No university application
Training college for me. 

No help from the teachers
For ‘failures’ like me
Despite being in the top
Two percent of the country. 

Decisions made for me
Based on my actions
I didn’t put the effort in
Which caused the school’s reactions. 

Now retired I look back
At choices made for me
How different the trajectory
If I had stood up for me. 

Should I regret the might-have-been
Or celebrate my success?
A life well lived. Good jobs, degrees.
Great friends, a home and health.
Forty years of marriage, a son
And three grandkids. 

Those that made the decisions
Are long gone now.
But did they drive me to impress?

The third exercise was about exploring life through numbers.  I feel I was a bit influenced by the song 'Once I was 7 years old'. 

Still counting
When I reached 30
I suddenly felt grown up.
My opinions seemed to matter
More than at 29. 

When I reached 40
The mother of a 3 year old
A 37 year gap
Me, a geriatric primigravida. 

When I reached 50
A champagne breakfast
Hosted by a friend
50 was the new 30
Although it didn’t feel like it! 

When I reached 60
The 3 year old was 23
And married.
We went to New York City
And took a carriage ride
Around Central Park. 

When I reached 70
Three score years and ten
There was a garden party.
Not a surprise party because
I don’t like surprises.
But the 23 year old, now 33
Surprised me with his wife
Facetiming through the television. 

And nearly 4 years on
Still counting,
Still reaching towards 80 

I’m aiming for 100
and a card from the King

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

The last two days

And so we come to my final post about our trip to Portugal.

On the Thursday we took the metro to Casa de Musica where a short walk took us to the Cemeterio de Agramonte.  It was started in 1855 as a simple burial ground but in the 1870s people started building elaborate mausoleums.

We walked to the Jardim Botanico do Porto

By this time I felt I couldn't walk another step so we got the bus to the Parque e Jardim da Fundacao Serralves.

This was a mix of an art gallery and sculpture park as well as gardens.

We didn't understand this exhibit!  The person sat on the hippo sculpture was reading the newspaper and then tearing the page off and throwing it on the ground!

In the evening we took the metro to the other side of the river in Porto.  We walked down to the riverside where we had dinner.

By the time we had finished dinner the bus we had intended to catch was only operating once an hour so we got a taxi back as I didn't have the energy to climb back up to the metro.

On our final day we took the metro out to Vila do Conde.   We could see this ruined aqueduct from the train.

We walked through the market.  This salt cod was piled high and smelled high too!

There was, of course, a maritime museum and a replica ship to visit.

We walked along the promenade to a restaurant by the sea.

Where I had a raspberry mojito.  Very nice.

We walked back into town and then got lost trying to find the metro station where we saw this young man waiting for the train.

The next day we took the metro to the airport and came home.

We had a wonderful time.  It wasn't all sweetness and light - I've left out the frustrations and the not-so-happy times.  Let's face it you don't need to know how grumpy I get when I'm very tired.

Thanks for joining me for the last few posts about Portugal.  Next time normal service will be resumed.  Fabric books, creativity and the odd poem.  And one of them is very odd indeed!

Bernice

Porto and the Douro Valley

Yet again everything was either up a hill or down a hill!  Our hotel was in an upper part so of course we had to walk downhill and then uphill to the Cathedral.

Another walk took us to the Gothic church of Igreja de Sao Francisco, a deconsecrated church.

It is famous for all its gold and while we were there a team of people were restoring the gold leaf.

 Beneath the museum were the catacombs.

 
Around the corner was the Palacio da Bolsa which wasn't a palace at all.  It was in fact the former Stock Exchange.

The next day we took the train to Regua where we went round a museum about the Douro Valley and the wine region.

We had booked a river trip which took us 14 miles up the River Douro to Pinhao.

The train station at Pinhao was quite pretty.  We took the train back to Porto.

Come back on Saturday for my final post about our holiday in Portugal.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice