To Create

I've been thinking about older people lately.  Partly because I'm headed in that direction at the speed of light, it seems, and partly because I've always enjoyed being around them.  They seemed to know so much.  Not as much now as before, unfortunately.  That's mainly because as I approach their age, I'm catching up a bit.  One thing I've noticed is that as you get older, you don't create as much.  Part of that is that you tired more easily, and the big part is that the fire is gone.  When you're young, you not only have a lot of energy, you have a real desire to go out and make a difference.  Not so much for older people.  They've made all the mark they're going to make, and are usually just cruising.  That's not to say that older people just give up, because they don't.  Mostly it's that their creative endeavors are a lot more studied.  They think about what they're going to do before they jump in.  That can make a huge difference, and it can also kill a project in a heartbeat.  I know I've sat back and looked at something and decided that it just wasn't worth the effort it would take to do it.  Anyway, I named this one Create.

To Create

To create, to make something
  that never existed
Maybe a new thing or just
  a new way of seeing the old

A painting or a pot
  or a painting of a pot
Something new!
  We love it!

It's probably why we have no use
  for older people
They've been there, done that
  already seen it all

Except they haven't
  they couldn't
They were too busy
  being alive

They have seen a lot
  and already know
But nobody listens
  so we go that way again

The really new is built on the old
  that which existed before
Nostalgia still sells
  better than art

Old people can teach us
  but we have no time to learn
We're too busy
  repeating the same old mistakes

c. 2011 C. Thames