DIAMOND JUBILEE:

Diamonds are a gal´s best friend, so they tell me & say,

And today is the day I celebrate my old sixtieth birthday,

I shall think like my queen & call it my diamond jubilee,

This day when I reflect on what it´s like to simply be me.

As a small child I played free & wild under the African sun,

With stones, beasts, birds & with the Bushmen having fun,

Where time didn’t matter & in my little life, had no place,

With feet in muddy puddles & sun on my rosy wee face.

As young nubile maid, I´ve loved men from near, far & wide,

Those who have made me laugh & with the others I´ve cried,

Monsieurs, Mijnheers, Lords, some very rich, but most very poor,

But in the end I settled for my dear & un-intelligible Spanish Señor.

As a mother, I suckled at my breast, my two lovely little boys,

And then grew them up to finer men, giving a lifetime of joys,

Goddess of home, nurturing & keeping always warm the hearth,

Sending my sons away on their life´s unknowing & hopeful path.

Now as an old crone, creased, silver & hopefully diligent & wise,

And looking through the mirror of life, into my rheumy old eyes,

I see a life well lived, with its tears, smiles & many ups & downs,

A twitching of puckered lips, I see a smile kissing my old frowns.

So now with the brilliance of diamonds & the wisdom of crones,

I no longer fret & worry, nor diet & starve to show off old bones,

I have earned my wrinkles, my leg-dimples & my blue-lived veins,

They´re all just furrowed ruts of life, where I´ve ambled down lanes.

My tresses are not merely grey, but the silver of old solstice moons,

Today I celebrate me & the passing of my many past & lost noons,

With great joy, at sixty today, I shall celebrate my diamond jubilee,

And I shall shout at the world, “Eureka, at last, today I am now free”.