The poems in this varied and inspiring selection illustrate the idea that retirement is a stepping stone to a different life. In one poem it is “the holes / in the everyday” that make room for the unexpected. Elsewhere, there’s an invigorating sense that the need to follow convention has been swept aside:

“At last now you can be
What the old cannot recall
And the young long for in dreams…”

from ‘Accepted’ by Elizabeth Jennings

Many of the poems explore the freedom and independence that come from no longer being tied to nine-to-five routines. A daily coffee in Soho offers a new and stimulating pattern, and lying awake at night is suddenly a pleasure rather than a worry. The poems demonstrate that there are countless different versions of retirement – and just as many opportunities for new adventures.

Poems by Martyn Crucefix, Anne Finch‌, Countess of Winchilsea, Lorna Goodison, John Greening, Elizabeth Jennings, WS Merwin, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Peter Phillips, Kathy Pimlott and Anna Robinson.