by Natalie H. Rogers
When a beautiful woman sees
Freshness fading as
Shadows hover
over her glow
Softness spreading to
Unwelcome places,
A name forgotten,
A thought misplaced ,
Perhaps two ,
One after the other
I never dreamed
So unfair and uncalled for
How dare my sparkle leave
Without apology or
a note at least
My youngness
Gone ?
Suddenly
Shockingly
Like a sudden squall
Out of the blue
That levels a town
Or a train just missed
You can barely see the outlines
Eventually she might suspect
that she unknowingly
Has moved
And now lives
On the other side of over the hill
On the old side
The slow side
Where canes and walkers
Rest in closets that held rackets
skates and skis
what can she do
To stifle screams
Of no…I didn’t think
Me ?
You are excused from youngness
Oh no not exactly excused
Excused is like that day
you had your period
And the teacher then
excused you from the gym
Look in the mirror lady!
You are not excused
You are EXEMPT!
No turning back
No passing morning aches
No passing stiffness
Or temporary wrinkles
You are exempt
Exempt from your obsessions
Passions and desires
Exempt from being ogled
in a short skirt
those fabulous legs irrelevant
exempt from sidelong glances
someone’ s husband sent your way
And mam
They call you mam
When did it happen
that young lady had
morphed into mam
A mam? You ?
In storage
In the Archives
Living memorabilia
Now,
sensible and wise and out of step
The end of fun ?
People you know are dying
They think you look great
‘They bless each day they are alive
You found a small brown spot on your wrist
And you complain
Oh my God
Someone you went to school with is dying !
“Well she has her problems
“And I have my problems “
Doesn’t it embarrass you to say that
“No not at all
On the other side of over the hill
When you’v stepped into elderliness
It’s very quiet
That bothers me !
Who can I talk to
without appearing ridiculous
Even narcissistic
Living here alone
On the other side of over the hill
Natalie H. Rogers: Psychotherapist, actress, former Artistic director of the Dove Theatre Co. at Saint Peters Church and original member of the Poetry Table. She has been writing poetry for most of her life and is now exploring in poetic form the effects of the aging process upon women.
