I Look in the Mirror

I wrote this poem in response to a post by a fellow blogger, Yobial Marin. The post was called ‘The Shadows of Youth’ and she was discussing the question, ‘Do we ever wonder what it will be like when we are old?’

Her post had a very eye-catching picture to head it up. I hope she’ll not mind if I reproduce it here.

Here’s the link to Yobial’s blog post:

http://lovepainandothercatastrophes.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/shadows-of-youth.html

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And here’s my reply by means of a poem.

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I look in the mirror and what do I see?

The shell of the person I used to be.

The hair that was golden is now going grey.

It’s courser yet thinner; what can I say?

The wrinkles are deeper than they were before.

Laughter and sorrow, and oh! so much more

are etched on my forehead: a permanent frown,

reminding me sadly of days I was down.

You look at my photo what do you see?

The person I am or who I could be?

I used to look pretty when dressed in my best:

I still have the sparkle tho’ I’ve lost the rest.

You don’t see the children I bore in my belly.

They’re all grown and gone now: I don’t see them daily.

I miss them, they’re part of what makes me ‘me’.

The person I was; who I used to be.

Look closer, I beg you, try to see who I am.

Grey hair and wrinkles don’t matter a damn.

It’s the person inside I want you to see:

the person unchanged from how I used to be.

I still laugh and sing, want to dance and be fun.

It’s just that it’s harder; I’m so easily ‘done’.

Energy’s left me for somebody younger;

the hill-walks and shopping have been its plunder.

Inside myself I’m still twenty-six,

right at my prime and able to fix

your sadness and pain, your troubles and sorrow.

The wisdom I’ve gained, that, you can borrow.

Whatever I’ve learned with all that I’ve come through,

take it, it’s yours to do  as you will do.

Look at me closely. What do you see?

The person I am? Or who you want me to be?

*Christine*

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Another blogger, Marian Allen, has now been inspired to post a poem to continue on the theme, turning this into a lovely impromptu blog hop.

.http://www.marianallen.com/2013/06/seniority-blog-hop/

Anyone else?

A belated addition: author Steven D Malone brought to my attention that he wrote about ‘Boomers’ which is the third one down on the ‘March’ page of his blog. he also wrote about ‘naps’ in March…whatever that has to do with getting older 🙂

Anyway, here’s his link too. I can recommend this post. It’s very interesting.

http://www.stevenspen.com/blog-1/archives/march/

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