I SHALL WEAR PURPLE!

This is a poem, from a book of the same title:  (And, of course, one of MY favorites!)
Note:  The original poem written by Jenny Joseph,1961, entitled Warning

WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE.

              by Sandra Martz (Editor), Jenny Joseph (forward by)

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.

And 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 the 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 pickles for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But meanwhile we must stay respectable

And must not shame the children; they mind more,

Even than we do, being noticeable.

We will keep dry with sensible clothes and spend

According to good value, and do what's best

To bring the best for us and for our children.

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.