(Published in Alabama Anthology 2007) <br /> <br />In worn overalls as patched <br />and thin as his shoes and <br />with a rusty bucket in hand, <br />he walked along the side of the <br />road. He was 74 years old <br />and carrying fresh cut collard <br />greens to his daughter's house <br />13 miles away. <br /> <br />Minnie who was 69 was <br />running off to work to take <br />care of an 'old woman' of 91. <br /> <br />Sarah was 82 and her mom 99. <br />They sewed quilts for a living <br />and were preparing for the <br />mother's 100th birthday party <br />soon to come. <br /> <br />I stopped to ask directions <br />from Georgia who was hanging <br />clothes on the line, she said <br />she was 105. She had cleaned <br />houses all her life. <br /> <br />So I asked her the Alabama <br />secret of old age: <br /> <br />Was it the slow living in the warm sun? <br />Was it the clean air or pure water? <br />Was it good food prepared by loving hands? <br /> <br />She smiled and said 'Yes, it's all that' <br /> <br />'But mostly........ it's the hard work'. <br /> <br />Then she hung another faded shirt <br />up on the line. <br /> <br /> <br />(One week in Greene County, AL 2004)<br /><br />Cheryl Lynn Moyer Peele<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/secret-of-old-age/
