Granddad‘s growing pains

Granddad’s Growing Pains

The mirror blinks back a man I almost know,
Eyes fogged with yesterday, not ready to go.
My knees creak louder than the floorboards groan,
Yet wisdom hums — a tune I’ve still not known.
They said with age comes peace, not paperwork,
But peace avoids me like a cosmic quirk.
My patience wanes when gadgets mock my hand,
Still, I nod like I quite understand.
Granddad’s growing pains, they call it mild,
But pain is pain, and I’ve been filed.
Filed under “Stubborn,” the department of men,
Who learn too slow and forget again.
I once thought age brought clarity and grace,
Now I chase my glasses all over the place.
Each year’s another test I didn’t plan,
A syllabus written by time — not man.
Never a termination point for those willing to learn,
But oh, how often we crash and burn.
We cling to what we know as if it saves,
When all it builds are comfortable graves.
They say wisdom is earned through trial and pain,
But I suspect it’s just forgetting again.
We recycle old mistakes like favorite tunes,
Play “same old story” under wandering moons.
Keep this in mind when it’s time for your turn,
You can’t just coast — you’ve got to learn.
Pride ages faster than a cigarette burn,
And humility’s the prize you’ll never earn.
The young laugh softly, their heads full of fire,
But they’ll curse like us when their knees retire.
Each stage pretends it knows the end,
But ends, like roads, just loop and bend.
I fix the same leaky pipe each year,
Claiming mastery — then spill the beer.
Call it wisdom, call it charm,
Mostly it’s chaos dressed in calm.
The mind expands, the ego stays,
Still arguing through its own clichés.
Granddad’s growing pains are seeds in clay,
They crack, they stretch — they learn the way.
The truth is humbling, strange, and kind,
We never outgrow the child in mind.
We stumble wiser, laugh through disdain,
And call it progress — through every pain.
So when I speak with trembling tone,
Know every word I say I don’t quite own.
Each day’s a remix of what I’ve learned again,
A man in motion — still growing his pain.