Courtesy of Lynn Guidry, 3.0 Sr. Men’s Division, Baton Rouge, LA
"Love in the Senior Years," surely you thought,
This poem was about Viagra and all the thrills it's brought.
But no, this poem is not about the passions of women and men,
But about the score in a tennis game which will keep you from a win.
Now that I have gotten your attention, you may want to continue to read,
About the growth of the love for a game? grown like a tree from a seed.
So this poem is about the love of a game, begun when these men were mere boys.
When they picked up a racket, walked on a court, and gave up their other toys.
Who would have thought when these men were boys so many years ago,
That their love for the game would continue on and even actually grow.
How many things from their youth can they still enjoy so much,
And still participate so well with little loss of touch.
Now they don't run as quick nor hit the ball as fast,
But their years of experience keep them in the game till the very last.
What they lack in speed, they make up in sheer anticipation
Of their opponents next shot driving him to ultimate frustration.
It's interesting in tennis that forty is the highest number you can score.
Since most of these men have exceeded this number by 20 years or more.
For it’s the game of tennis through the years that has kept these old men fit.
Not the pills nor the doctor's office where many younger men must sit.
Now knee braces go on accompanied by the smell of Bengay,
But soon these same old men are sprinting like colts in a fresh bed of hay.
The sounds you hear are not the grunts and smashes of every tennis stroke,
But the sounds of swishes and pings and laughter as someone has just told a joke.
Besides the smells and sounds, the sights are quite different too.
While most are slim and trim, small pot bellies do accompany a few.
And some tennis outfits may be different to say the very least.
But fortunately these senior courts are not patrolled by the tennis fashion police.
Sometimes we may get frustrated if we are not playing at our very best.
But the fact that we are still playing should make us stick out our chest.
For tennis is a game for life, you can play it till the very end.
Thus when we finally reach the Pearly Gates, we hope to hear the score "Add In."