You Can’t Grow Old

Plants grow both ways,
down into the ground
and up, reaching to the sky.
But plants can’t grow old shoots,
they can only grow new ones,
and we must realize
that neither can we.
We can only grow from
old experiences to new ones,
in whatever direction we please.
No one grows old;
it is quite impossible.
You think you are
coming from being young
and headed to being old,
like a receding line,
getting wispier all the time.
You act like your life
is a piece of music
with a crescendo to a climax
followed by a decrescendo
down to silence at an ending.
But it behooves us to remember
those shoots are more alive,
than lines and songs.
Those sprouting tendrils
are vital, stretching outward
ever extending toward what’s new–
new light, new nourishment,
new fulfillment, new frontiers.
The opposite of old is not young.
The opposite of old is new.
So how are you growing new?
What new experiences
are you moving towards?
Keep growing, and you will not
diminish or wither.
Keep growing, and you will not
wilt, droop, or shrivel.
Keep growing,
and you’ll be ever fresh,
engaged, replenished,
invigorated, and revitalized.
Keep eternally growing,
because that’s the actual
nature of life,
and it’s the very essence
of your exquisite being
to do so.

by Polly Castor
9/4/25