This blog title uses the word ages in its literal translation. Therefore, this poem depicts my journey toward accepting my own aging process. I’ve been a relatively healthy 74 year old engaging in a variety of physical and mental activities that keep me vital and active.
My poem, My Sacred Temple was accepted for an anthology publication entitled A World Unsuspected. I read it at a book launch on May 3rd, 2025 in Bellingham, Washington. Read the entire poem below.
My Sacred Temple
by Susan E. Greisen 12/24
My Sacred Temple is crumbling
45 years of yoga have forsaken me
I can no longer do the full bridge pose
Even though I did it once correctly
My wrists don’t flex
My back won’t bend
My neck is tight
My groins don’t extend
Has my yoga ship sailed?
Is it perfection I seek?
Yoga was once my salvation
But now my muscles are weak
Hip and wrist arthritis
Found a new home in my joints
Once soothing yoga poses
Have become sore sticking points
Child’s pose now hurts
Downward dog requires props
I can’t hold most poses for long
Let me finish and lie like a corpse
Secretly I admit the sole reason I go
To seek my luxurious retreat
The sauna melts my aches and pains
They love the nurturing heat
My yoga instructors gently
Guide me through the routine
I listen to their messages
Some that are not always obvious or seen
I was surprised one day by the question
“What do you want to keep?”
“Compassion and Love” are what I found
When I looked deep
Gradually I awakened and discovered
My yoga buddies I didn’t always see
I rarely noticed their impact
Their collective positive energy
Some with healing fractures, chronic arthritis,
Joint replacement, or cancer mayhem
Their diagnoses make me seem young
Yet they never let it bother them
During our yoga practice
We are not to look and compare
So, what am I moaning about
Thinking life is unfair
Many in my classes are older than me
Some a decade or more
We have known each other for several years
Next to them, I lie my mat on the floor
Steph and Karen in their upper 70s
Pat and Jim in their 80s, and Jane is 89
I covertly look for them during my practice
Whenever I want to moan or whine.
Dementia has a grip on Sonia at 82
Her companion guides her poses
Once a European child of war
Her smile is like a bouquet of roses
Robert, 84, limps in with chronic pain
Carolyn battles her third cancer at 82
They are my chair yoga buddies
My self-gratitude is way overdue
I modified some of my poses
To not cause so much pain
This change to my practice
Is for those who are more sane
Maybe I’ll complain and feel sorry for myself
But only for a moment
Because I will look for my yoga buddies
And banish my sorrow and judgment
My yoga family inspires me
They have shown me this is just another stage
Because of them and their guidance
My Sacred Temple is full of yoga that doesn’t have an age
More about Susan’s writing at https://susangreisen.com/
A World Unsuspected (2025) published by Sidekick
13 responses to “A Poem for the Ages”
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Hi Kathy,
I have gotten so many replies from the seniors in the crowd. Looks like there are many of us who feel our pain…no pun intended. Years ago, many of our parents or grandparents didn’t even live as old as some of us are. So with longevity increasing, we will need to figure out how to cope. I found mine in a group of like-minded people.
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Okay, so I’m not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (it takes two bounds!) and I’m no longer faster than a speeding bullet! I am an “immortal boomer”!
I work out at the gym several times a week to stay fit which I believe is the elixir for a long life and so far, I have all original parts. My social calendar is hooked to my wife’s schedule ( she’ the Wisconsin-Upper Michingan District Governor for Kiwanis and we are the epitome of Willie Nelson’s song “On the Road Again”).
A joint here ( the wrist) and there ( the left knee) creaks every once in a while but hasn’t slowed me down much. I give thanks I’m still mobile and without any chronic illness and the mind is still pretty sharp as I approach my 77th year. My role model is a 93 year old guy in Pennsylvania who is still fly fishing with help from a friend
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Hello Randy, so nice to hear from you again. you are certainly a role model to so many, I’m sure. You’re fortunate to have a wife as active as you are. That certainly helps. Yes I go to the gym for yoga and pilates 3 to 5 times a week and I am so glad to meet up with my yoga family when I do. Some people find family in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s biological, sometimes it’s a club, church, or membership, and sometimes it’s your local gym. I feel very fortunate to live where I do where people are open, friendly and accepting. Keep on trucking Randy we’ve got a long way to get to go
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So I got cut off…..I’m still volunteering, teaching young people how to fly fish, working with women to expand their fly fishing skills, and working with men who have cancer to learn fly fishing as an aid to helping them deal with their illness.
So, Susan, you’ll be back in the saddle in no time with rehab, keep a positive mental attitude and keep on writing; your talent is too good to leave behind!!
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Thank you so much Randy. Writing has become my therapy and even more so when I have not been able to get out and about these last few weeks. I have actually written an outline for my next memoir when I lived in Cameroon for 2 years. I’ll start working on that when I can get upstairs to my desktop computer.
AKA Gowee
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Susan E. Greisen 
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