When I Was One and Twenty (with apologies to A.E. Housman)

Posted bySheila Morris 11 Comments on When I Was One and Twenty (with apologies to A.E. Housman)

When I was One and Twenty

(With apologies to A.E. Housman)

When I was one and twenty,

My world was make-believe.

A play directed by others

I felt compelled to please.

 

But now I’m one and seventy,

The play is on the shelf.

No lines to learn, no marks to hit,

The director is myself.

Published by Sheila Morris

Sheila Morris is a personal historian, essayist with humorist tendencies, lesbian activist, truth seeker and speaker in the tradition of other female Texas storytellers including her paternal grandmother. In December, 2017, the University of South Carolina Press published her collection of first-person accounts of a few of the people primarily responsible for the development of LGBTQ+ organizations in South Carolina. Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home will resonate with everyone interested in LGBTQ+ history in the South during the tumultuous times from the AIDS pandemic to marriage equality. She has published five nonfiction books including two memoirs, an essay compilation and two collections of her favorite blogs from I'll Call It Like I See It. Her first book, Deep in the Heart: A Memoir of Love and Longing received a Golden Crown Literary Society Award. Her writings have been included in various anthologies including Out Loud: the best of Rainbow Radio, Saints and Sinners New Fiction from the 2017 Festival, Mothers and Other Creatures; Cowboys, Cops, Killers, and Ghosts (Texas Folklore Society LXIX). She is a displaced Texan living in South Carolina with her wife Teresa Williams and their dogs Spike, Charly and Carl. She is also Naynay to her two granddaughters Ella and Molly James who light up her life for real. Born in rural Grimes County, Texas in 1946 her Texas roots still run wide and deep.

11 replies on “When I Was One and Twenty (with apologies to A.E. Housman)”

  1. I am somewhat more confident now that I am 61, but I still have time to become wiser still, Sheila. 😉
    Happy birthday week, dear Sheila and tell Teresa hello too! (I miss Red and sometimes want to use Pretty for your special one. xoxo

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  4. I love this! Wait, did you have a birthday? If so, happy happy. And if not, at least you are now the director, a lesson I literally tried to hit my daughter (an actor) over the head with when she was recently visiting.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I could sing Happy birthday to you, but I don’t want to lose your friendship ;). So I’ll just shout it: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHEILA! With the daughter, not so much drama as me trying to impart wisdom and her hoping I’ll stop imparting.

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