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Robert Lindner
55 And Other Confusing Subjects
“Feel the city breakin'
And ev'rybody shakin.
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, Stayin' alive. Stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, Stayin' alive.”
Stayin’ Alive
By Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb (THE BG’S)
55 years. Another reunion.
It’s hard to believe, but life just goes one
Day and one year at a time till your age
Informs you that you have now reached that stage
That’s called, “That Age,” where you have to remind
Yourself of what you’re doing and you find
Yourself trying to avoid complex things
Because of the extra problems that brings,
With the complexity. I know the brain
Slows down with aging. But I won’t complain.
What good would it do? I’ll keep keeping on,
As long as I can till yesterday’s gone,
And today is here again to plan for
Tomorrow. And here I am with far more
Yesterdays than tomorrows, I am sure,
But time goes on and we have to endure
The vagaries of age. The years pass by,
But where there’s life there’s hope, they say, and I
Still hope for more good times, as I forget
The yesterdays. It’s like the time we met.
When was that and where? I should remember
But it was long ago. It’s an ember
Now in the coals of distant memory
Of before I was 18, when I’d be
A graduate 55 years ago.
The time went so fast, the time went so slow.
And that’s why we’re all here. I know, not all,
Time will take its toll. And the fates may call
Too soon. The 3 fates of birth, life and death,
The Greeks called Moirai. One gives you breath
One takes it away. One measures the thread
Of life till it’s cut by the one we dread.
And the three have their place in history
For Homer and Shakespeare called on the three.
But that is all now just a memory.
That causes me to write this poetry.
In the confusion of “That Age,” that’s one
Thing I’ll bring with me to this reunion.
Surely, not the only thing, you may say,
But I’m my age, as day must follow day,
Each today, as yesterday disappears,
Until the years will come to follow years.
55 years since we graduated,
And were young and we anticipated
Our futures with hope and worries about
What would become of us. But we’d still shout
Our high school cheer and loudly sing its song.
And here we are. 55 years, a long
Time passing, still singing the songs we learned
With all the happiness our lives have earned
For us. With all the wear and tear that I’ve
Been through, but I’m not done, I’m “Stayin’ alive.”
Counting my yesterdays and hoping for
Many more tomorrows to come before
The fate called “Atropos” comes with her shears
To cut my thread. I’m happy with the years
The fates have given me to sing the song
Of life and love. I’ll keep singing as long
I can. “Yesterday’s Gone,” and “Tomorrow”
Is comin’ and I’m “Stayin’ Alive.” So
Here’s to 55 years after high school.
Where I spent 4 years trying to be cool.
Trying to find out who I was and who
I would become and everything was new.
Now it’s old, but each day is new again.
With old memories and each begins: when
I was young, then continues on from there
With each yesterday till it reaches where
I am today wishing us all a great
Tomorrow. Though I know we’ll have to wait
For it. “You know it's all right, it's O.K.”
I know “I'll live to see another day.”
“And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.”
Singin’ and dancin’ after 55.
55 years, we are gonna have fun
At our fifty-fifth high school reunion.
Gonna have some beer and a little wine.
We’ll party like it’s 1999.
When they said it would be the end of line.
But 20 years later we’re doin’ fine.
I know I’m tempting fate, but it’s too late
To worry. Long ago, we had to wait
And hope and sing, “We’ll be swell, we’ll be great
We’re gonna have the whole world on a plate”
Cause “Everything’s comin’ up roses.” Why not?
Now we’re here to celebrate what we’ve got.
“And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.”
Singin’ and dancin’ after 55.
55 years, we are gonna have fun.
At our fifty-fifth high school reunion.
BY ROBERT LINDNER
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