On Becoming a Sexagenarian

On Becoming a Sexagenarian

In my teens, I wanted to be old enough to drive
When I attained that freedom, I didn’t realize
its full responsibility

Before I turned 21, I desired the ability to drink
alcohol legally in NJ; when I did, I could not
comprehend its destructive power in my life

In my thirties, I mourned leaving my twenties
as I was now in the phase of my life
where I once said, “don’t trust anyone over thirty”

When I hit the big four-o, I learned it was not
a fatal condition; I was not as wise or grown-up
as I thought I was in my twenties

Then I became fifty; it was an age people
called “over-the-hill,” so why did I not feel that way?
After all, age was a mental aberration

And now, I reach a milestone to which
I look forward because in the ensuing years
being in your sixties became acceptable