Age has found me…
Age has found me with a tube of red lipstick,
a missing front tooth and a partial I had to put
in the lay-a-way cuz, it cost too much to buy outright
Got pesky moles removed from my face an early
Christmas present from my friend who told me my skin
would look like the excitement I felt the first time
I went roller skating
Age has found me with a pair of red stilettos,
an unused membership to the Y and the good sense
not to have my grandchildren sewn into the hem of my skirt
I’ve seen this in women I’ve known before—voluntarily raising
another set of kids—makes you forgo the fruit
that makes this old woman shake
Age has found me with a bottle of red nail polish,
five bottles of pills, a handful of supplements
and doctor’s appointments disguised as social events
Mama’s wisdom once elusive as an eclipse
canvas stretched over my chest
soft flames fly from my mouth
cuz now I turn my face to hers
as I repeat what she always called truth
Age has found me with a red laced mini-dress,
books of blank pages, a calligrapher’s pen
and a palm full of brown sugar
thrown into a pot of boiling corn
My back is sore, my right knee aches
but my strokes are bold and long
penning scripts, exploring landscapes
walking the terrain anticipating what’s next
–By Margie Shaheed
© 2017 by Margie Shaheed
