WELCOME TO COLOR US PURPLE

 When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
 With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
 And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
 And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

 I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
 And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
 And run my stick along the public railings
 And make up for the sobriety of my youth. 

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
 And pick flowers in other people's gardens
 And learn to spit.
 
 You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
 And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
 Or only bread and pickle for a week
 And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats and things in boxes.
 
 But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
 And pay our rent and not swear in the street
 And set a good example for the children.
 We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
 
 But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
 So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
 When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
 
 Jenny Joseph