Purple Poem

[Mary Marguerite Ludwick <ludwick@TENET.EDU>]

When I am an old woman 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 up
   samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railing
And makeup for the sobriety of my youth...

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain and pick the flowers
  in other people's gardens.....and learn to spit!

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 with a red hat.


(To appreciate this, you must realize it was written when
absolutely NO ONE wore purple and women were LADIES!)

Mary Ludwick         Ludwick@tenet.edu