Write about your first crush.

Tongue tied, hopeless, utterly shy

Please look away from me as a boy.

Too timid by far to talk to a girl.

But yes it could happen.

I did have a crush.

But that would be daydreams

Doodling a name

Carving initials onto my arm.

Seldom encountered

Seen from afar

A made up person

Not the real girl.

Perhaps one encounter

It didn’t go well.

And that’s all I’m saying.

There’s nothing to tell.

What countries do you want to visit?

I‘ve been to forty four countries

Lived in quite a few

I‘ve been to forty four countries

I hope to visit more.

South America next on our list

And cruise to Antarctica too

Argentina, Chile, Uraguay

The Falkland Islands as well.

Off to see the penguins,

glaciers and sea

That’s a new experience

Even for travelled me.

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

I’m my biggest critic

It’s how I like to be

It’s hard to see the good in myself.

That’s for others to see.

People say I put myself down

So this is hard for me.

I’’m apt to say,

‘It can’t be done’

But push on till I do.

I guess I am persistent

Press on with what I do

But as to other qualities

I’ll leave them up to you.

How do you want to retire?

Happily retired six years

And really can’t complain

I have a decent pension

And happily good health.

No one tells me where to be

Or what I have to do

I’m not stuck in an office

Or pale behind a desk.

More likely in the garden

Or growing our own food

We have a big allotment

Plenty of fruit and veg.

Or else I’ll be out running

Four, five times a week

Love the weekly ParkRun

Target times to beat.

And then there’s foreign travel

So much left to see:

India, Caribbean, cruising round the Med

Australia and the USA, New Zealand and the rest.

And then there’s friends and grandkids

Food and drink and walks.

It’s a full life in retirement

So much to see and do.

What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?

I’ve lived too many places

Left too many behind

So much I owned discarded

Replaced to begin again.

I cling to things that are pointless

Squirrel them safely away

But the oldest thing I use daily?

Sorry I can’t really say.

Describe one of your favorite moments.

The shakey first steps of a toddler

A baby learning to crawl

These are my favourite moments

My favourite moments of all.

The outstretched arms of a mother

The tottering steps of a child

The joy on parents’ faces

There’s nothing to beat it at all.