A poem for the third age...

For me, the third age is here. I am eligible for a free bus pass or discounted rail travel and I get free NHS prescriptions. I could be a bona fide member of SAGA (Sex and Games for the Aged- joke!) and U3A (University of the Third Age) if I wanted to; it's just that I don't want to at the moment thank you. When I came across the W.H. Davies poem Leisure, I also happened upon a poem written by Primo Levi called To My Friends. This poem appears to be an 'ode', an address to the many people that one meets over a life time; some who pass by in a moment and some who stick around for a while - all though, leave their mark on you forever. To all those who have come my way then; from childhood to troubled teenage years, from marriage (the first time) and false friendships to the freedom of divorce and renewal, from new found careers to retirement and of course to present and future friends too, this poem is for you.   

To My Friends

Primo Levi 

'Dear friends, and here I say friends

In the broad sense of the word:

Wife, sister, associates, relatives,

Schoolmates of both sexes,

People only seen once

Or frequented all my life;

Provided that between us, for at least

a moment,

A line has been stretched,

A well-defined bond.

I speak for you, companions of a crowded

Road, not without its difficulties,

And for you too, who have lost

Soul, courage, the desire to live;

Or no one, or someone, or perhaps

only one person, you

Who are reading me: remember

the time

Before the wax hardened,

When everyone was like a seal.

Each of us bears the imprint

Of a friend met along the way;

In each the trace of each.

For good or evil

In wisdom or in folly

Everyone stamped by everyone.

Now that the time crowds in

And the undertakings are finished

To all of you the humble wish

That autumn will be long and mild.