Some might say I’m a polymath,
Some, a dilettante,
I think I’m both, and you are not?
The both you do not want?
But why the one and not the other?
Do easy you fall prey
To how others wish to label you
Or think you then, to be?
A narrow line you really walk,
Not fat nor adventurous
But pulling in and shutting down
With absence of all lust
And glee, and general insanity
Plus the joy of letting go?
But hurt resides in limiting
The feelings that you show
Or feel, or how you think of self,
And also what you say
Or do or play, dance, draw or act,
And what you might display.
Let go say I, you’ll manage well
Inevitable anxiety;
That never killed a fly it’s said –
The killer’s piety.
Ann Grogan is a new poet, pianophile, attorney, and octogenarian residing in San Francisco, California. She promotes the unequivocal permission to pursue one’s passions at any age. Since most stress in life is caused by taking oneself too seriously, she likes to reflect humorously on her struggles after retirement in 2020 to re-learn to play the piano and write about her long-standing feminist-humanist values.