Six years ago in the summer of 2017 I posted my version of British poet A.E. Housman’s classic poem “When I was One and Twenty” published in 1896 in a collection called A Shropshire Lad. Housman, who was born in 1859 and died in 1936 at the age of seventy-seven, had partially funded the publication of A Shropshire Lad following a publisher’s rejection. In today’s jargon, we call that self-publishing. The book has been in continuous print since then so somewhere in London a poetry publisher in the last decade of the nineteenth century cursed himself on a Roman British tablet…or on something equally appropriate for turning down this classic.
When I Was One-and-Twenty
When I was one and twenty, my father said to me,
“Work hard, be kind to others, the truth will set you free;
a penny saved is a penny earned was his advice to me.”
But I was one and twenty, no use to talk to me.
When I was one and twenty, my father said again,
“Work harder, be smarter, but always be a friend;
love family, serve country, life’s games are played to win.”
And now I’m seven and seventy I hear my father say,
“You did your best, forget the rest, your heart led all the way.”
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Tomorrow is my 77th. birthday which I have celebrated with Pretty and our two best friends Nekki and Francie in the south of France for ten remarkable days filled with delicious food, three days at the Masters 1000 Tennis Tournament in Monte Carlo, and a day at the Cannes Films Festival (or “pre-festival” according to Pretty who knows everything about pop culture) where I donated my last American dollars to a casino next to the pink carpet.
The trip was on my short bucket list – a trip made possible through the generosity of our friends whose love and laughter made my bucket overflow with happiness. The time with Pretty is always special – luckily she came home with me but told me she would like to live in Nice for two years (if she could bring her granddaughters and their parents!).
(l. to r.) Francie, me, Pretty, Nekki – country come to town
Pretty and me at Matisse Museum
Francie and me grateful for bus
after unexpected downpour leaving Matisse Museum
Francie and Nekki on hotel rooftop
Pretty happy with setting, lunch and the polka dot hat
Thanks to our trip photographer Nekki for capturing some of our memory makers.
And thanks to all of you, my readers and followers who have also become my friends, for sharing part of my journey over the past thirteen years. Impossible to imagine that time without you.
Onward.
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Slava Ukraini. For the children.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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