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