Are We Burdens?

 Are We Burdens?

Do you really find us burdensome?
Are we branded as “beroons”?

Didn’t we labour for decades in our professions
to give you comforts beyond our means?
Didn’t we save every hard-earned penny
to gift you a bright career and future
often at the cost of our own joys?

Why brand us as burdens when we now try
to enjoy the pleasures and pursue the hobbies
we missed because of responsibilities?

There is still life in these years
years we once wrote off.
We want to rewrite our aging script as a golden age,
to grab life by the horns instead of fading quietly
into the autumn of our journey.

We want to love ourselves, breathe freely,
and rekindle our lost desires.
Do you expect us to lock ourselves indoors,
in a rocking chair or wheelchair,
eagerly waiting for a video call from kids and grandkids?

Permit us to live life on our own terms
until our last journey
to redefine autumnal glamour before the final call
from the Almighty to bid goodbye.