Going gray
A poem
Truth be told I’ve been gray
For many years
So saying I’m going gray
is a euphemism
A phone call to the girls
Gave me the confidence
Husband less enthusiastic
Wait a little longer
The decision, a private one
The journey, not so much
Vulnerability leads to growth
A long year of vulnerability
Free from the four-week ritual
No more magic potion
I would need to find
a new alchemic strategy
It takes confidence
The ego side steps
Youth would be drawn from an attitude
from strength, from capabilities
A part of a club
A not-so-secret society
Upturned lips
from the other members
Observing the holdouts
with salt and pepper men
Double standards
but we are used to this
I wish I knew then
what I know 25 years later
When I bought my first bottle
of medium brown
Advice to the hesitant and
To the youngsters who might
Own your beauty
Youth comes from within
Not from the not-so-magic potion
