Tuesday, 20 January 2015
The Skin in My Face Is Growing Downwards
By Arlene Corwin of Arlene Corwin Poetry
Wrinkling earlobes.
Ditto neck.
Drooping jawline; skrinkling cheek;
Eyes: the lids.
The mouth the hideous-d of all:
A mix of
Wrinkling, drooping, lined, thinned, fallen.
But it functions and I’m glad.
It talks, it sings, it bends, it hears
(that is the ears)
Not as unpropitious as it sounds.
But growing downwards, definitely.
Or as the case may be indef...
Shall I interfere and try
To youngify?
Restyle, revamp, remodel, work, in short
A reconstruction?
How shall I adapt?
Reshape?
How shall I, in other ugly words escape?
Gather rosebuds while they're there
And you're not in a wheelchair -
It doesn’t last - this now becoming past.
Not even Chinese Mings or tanks or emerald rings
(although they may take somewhat longer)
Anything that’s formed – reformed is de-formed in the end.
I’m wise enough to save that effort.
Not to take that shot at, stab at, or a crack
At getting my young beauty back.
Do I suffer?
That’s a tougher!
I ignore the mirror
Or I study the way Rembrandt did,
Leaving not a wart ignored.
Warts and all, I make my call without a comment
And a row.
I’m doing it right now.
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Comments
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Oh yes. I identify. Loved the word -youngify-
Posted by: Estelle D | Tuesday, 20 January 2015 at 06:47 AM
When lost for a verb - create one!
Posted by: arlene corwin | Tuesday, 20 January 2015 at 07:42 AM
Ah, yes, so true---but we're still here, as I say to my 34 housemates (neighbors) when they complain.Most don't seem to understand that it is inevitable with aging that your face (mostly)becomes old.
Posted by: Lyn Burnstine | Tuesday, 20 January 2015 at 08:40 AM
I'm a body observer, par excellence! My poem belongs partly to the realm of science, partly to the realm of philosophy and partly humor. When the title phrase occurred to me, I just had to expand it. I thought it was so, so funny.
Posted by: arlene corwin | Tuesday, 20 January 2015 at 09:40 AM
A good chuckle; well-earned wrinkles here, too, flowing well into the genetic sagging.
Posted by: simone | Tuesday, 20 January 2015 at 01:26 PM
Let Rembrandt do the warts bit, a bit of myopia and not to harsh lighting does wonders for the psyche. I know a woman whose picture (in her 20s) once appeared in Vogue; at 70 she told me she simply doesn't look in mirrors. Now that I've passed 70, I think she had a very good idea.
Posted by: June Calender | Tuesday, 20 January 2015 at 04:15 PM