When I am old

When I am old

When I am old and my teeth are loose, I can already only watch others

gnawing on chicken legs and biting into thin apples. In that case

Please place me in a secluded corner and

I will have a bowl of hot rice mixed with red dates and lotus seeds to keep me company.

When I am old and can no longer see the things that are close at hand.

Please don't introduce me to your

Please don't introduce me to your precious friends and guests.

My hair, my wrinkles, my scruffy beard

even the way I stand is no longer comfortable.

When I am old, there is no need to listen to my advice, to look at my face.

I will only be in your right choice or

respect and compassion, giving wrong and confusing answers.

Or they never came to earth at all.

When I am old, no matter where you are, even if

the sky is the limit, no need to be attached.

I have my unique way to live freely and with dignity

living. Each strained breath

and slow pause only warns time and air.