I have been in love with the poem by Jenny Joseph “Warning” for many years.

On a recent visit to the Wired Witch of the East CLICK HERE TO SEE STORY,

the poem once again found its way into my life.

I have been wanting to blog it for sometime and have decided to add photos of any aging and cantankerous Tin Man (please note none of the photos are of the actual me)  to make the poem mine. 

I hope you enjoy my interpretation and that I have not offended Ms. Joseph or any members of the Red Hat Society.

………………okay…………..here goes………..

When I am an old [Tin Man] I shall wear Purple

With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens

And learn to spit

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.