Poetry Playground Prompt #28 Ageing
Mirror, mirror on the wall
The changes a woman sees in herself with time, growing old is natural but the acceptance is hard
Staring into my eyes,
from the mirror, is a woman
I didn’t notice her creeping there
But she kept up the pace,
Like a cat’s stride, one paw after another
Till she made a room for herself
Perched there, at ease — to stay forever
She came disguised under those lines on her face and silver in her hair
Her shapeless amoebic frame, I chose to ignore till it filled the image.
So different from the callow woman who used to look into my eyes,
and say — “Lucky you, you got it all; aren’t you afraid of losing ’em ever?”
The radiance, the youth, the firmness, the vigour, the energy, the strength, the beauty would chuckle in a chorus…
& with a smirk, I’d shrug off my shoulders
“Oh, come on! Don’t jinx it!’’, dismissing her insecure fears.
Wish I had listened to the yesteryear wizard, before I bumped into this old witch.
I woke up in shock from my sleep, perspiring & flushing — that’s how the crone signals, “I am coming’’…
As I open my eyes, the illusion fades
I take a stroll, real earth beneath my feet
It turns out — the young lady was the witch — a beauty but brash, swift but shrewd, famous but fierce, attractive but aggressive!
The wizard is the one I see now — old but elegant, frail but wise, hurt yet tolerant, slow but tranquil.
I faced the inner me with all my might, saw the witch dying as the wizard’s serene smile took over me…
Thank you for reading. And thank you Jonny Masters and Poetry Playground for the wonderful prompt — Ageing!
The concept of ageing has always intrigued me and I ended up writing two poems, not just one :) Hope both get published.
Here’s the link to this week’s prompt at Poetry Playground —
This is a very positive poem by Portia where she tells us about how the issue of anxiety can be effectively managed with medicine and therapy.
Read more incredible poetry with Poetry Playground:
