Warning-Poem by Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman I shall wear purpleWith a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer glovesAnd satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tiredAnd gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bellsAnd run my stick along the public railingsAnd make up for the sobriety of my youth.I shall go out in my slippers in the rainAnd pick flowers in other people's gardensAnd learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fatAnd eat three pounds of sausages at a goOr only bread and pickle for a weekAnd hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dryAnd pay our rent and not swear in the streetAnd 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 surprisedWhen suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Jenny Joseph was an English poet. The poem Warning was written in 1961 and is identified as the most popular post-war British poem. I was challenged to create a handmade book inspired by a chosen out of a few poems. I am Polish and I was not familiar with it.
From the beginning it made me think of the transition of time ... the plans we make for the future that most likely will never fulfil. We know it, yet we do not stop ourselves as we need to feed our dream that one day it will happen ... one day it will all make sense. I enjoyed the project, felt emotionally connected to the story and the character in the poem.
The cover is made of Financial Times. The business newspaper that is printed on a pink paper
Used handwritten style of font. The background is the height of a tree from the top to the bottom where the leaves fall ... reference to the transition of time
Brandy is considered to be an old folks drink ... and my favourite one
The slippers are the symbol of being comfortably numb, following Pink Floyd idea of ageing
If for any reason you would like to get in touch with me ...
Aleksandra Walkowska | tel: 0048 572203124 | alex.walkowska@gmail.com
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