I’m an octogenarian and have been posting on Kalilily Time for more than twenty years (with some hiatuses).
NOTE: Comments below are from original “About Me” page, which I accidentally deleted.
I am a poet who has had jobs as a teacher, newspaper feature writer, local magazine writer, proposal writer, policy paper writer, state legislation writer, curriculum writer, PR writer etc. etc. While few of my jobs had “writer” in the title, because I was told I could turn “straw into gold,” writing always became part of my assignments.
Once I was married. I am a mother of two and grandmother of one.
I thought I would be driving a red sports car when I was this age. Instead, I drive an orange Honda Fit. Close enough.
I now live in a house that is not my house, with family who treats me royally. It’s lucky for me that they do, because I could not afford to live in an Assistive Living facility. I have an unemployable late-diagnosed adult autistic son, who has been rejected for disability, and I support him financially with 2/5 of my income. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and is the reason I got into blogging. He blogs at bix.blog.
Over the past decade, I have had my poetry published in a variety of small presses, including The Berkshire Review, Naugatuck River Review, the Ballard Street Poetry Journal, Common Ground Review, Quiet Diamonds, and Peregrine. Several of my pieces appeared in the 1998 anthology Which Lilith: Feminist Writers Recreate the World’s First Woman.
Once I was so much more than I am now. Betty Davis was correct. For a long while, largely because of Circadian Sleep problem, I felt myself losing myself as body and mind and associated abilities waned. I felt estranged from the talents that used to flourish so easily, isolated by distance and time from the friends who knew me well, and struggling to survive in what felt like an old age wasteland, devoid of play and fun and camaraderie with peers who are dealing with the same losses.
Medication made the difference.
LIFE!
I can be reached at ekalilily at gmail dot com
Oh my. Or should I say oh f***? Love the poem. Unlike you, Kalilily, I can’t make things with my hands. I can only make things with my brain. Not really much different. We all have different talents. I do wonder what will happen to the young women who dismiss us because of our faded appearance. I have given up spending much time thinking about them, except to feel a bit sad — for them, certainly not for myself. My physical strength is waning, or I might give one or two of them a good wake-up SHAKE.
I AM WAKING UP INTO THIS NEW JOURNEY…A WOMAN FACING HER SIXTIES…TRYING TO KEEP A STRONG SPIRIT ALIVE IN SPITE OF PHYSICAL CHALLENGES. FEELS GOOD TO READ THESE. THANKS.
Dear Elaine, I am the Granddaughter of Jake Trussell. I am thrilled to see that he still has a following after all these years! I can tell you everything you want to know about my Opa, Jake Trussell, if you want to know! Please contact me! Thank you for your blog post! XO Lisa Painter
Dear Elaine, what a wonderful surprise to find your new book of poetry in my mailbox yesterday. I sat down to read “just one” but I postponed the rest of my morning until I had read every single one. What a gift you bring to the universe. I don’t have your email address any more but now you have mine. Where are you hanging your hat? I am in Arizona for Frank’s sabbatical but heading back east in mid-March. If you decide to take that lovingly-imagined trip down the east coast, please do let me know!
“Low Empathy: The Root of all Evil”
I have been saying this for years, but not as elegantly as you. The human race is devolving. The cruelty that we engage in daily towards animals is horrific. The slaughter of whales, dolphins, elephants, wolves just to name a few.. And the fastest way to devolve is the practice of “factory farming” and the gruesome experiments we do for “humanity” on innocent animals. We have the intelligence to make a difference but lack the desire to change the “status quo”. It will take some effort to create a society where Empathy rules. And we become the true guardians of this planet and all its amazing life forms, especially us!
When I watch some of the videos of animals showing a lot more compassion, empathy, and humanity than we do — and more intelligence than we give them credit for — I can’t help wonder if we are becoming the least necessary species on the plant. Too bad we are ruining it for all of the other more deserving creatures.
The planet could go on rather nicely without humanity, but the obverse, not so much. This big brain experiment of Nature’s may be an evolutionary dead end.
Wonderful!! You go on with your bad self – a woman of crass and sass is a force with which to be reckoned. Should we women all be so fortunate to find our place and our voice 🙂
And then I stand, and I roar
more than you even think
to know.
Elaine – what a wonderful verse!
I’m thrilled to know that you are blogging on. I hope to read more of your poems here: they hit the spot! You can find my own blogs through my avatar: one about ageing (20 cheers for the bonus years) and one just a stream of poems (Poems in the wild).
Just found your blog. Love these poems…my kinda gal! I look forward to reading more of your posts.