Poem - 02 February 2020, 12:51

BEAUTIFUL ME

I see you looking
Pondering my face
In awe at the damage
Of time

But I don't look away
I hold strong
Your gaze
Steadily
Boldly
Defiant

For what you see
My young friend
Is
Illusion
A snapshot
One moment
In a lifetime
Of
Me

I am a million faces
With more still to come
Which will twist
Melt and merge
And contort
Into one

And will change
Yet again
For
No
Face
Can
Be
Claimed
So
I lay myself bare
Without one jot
Of care
Without vanity
Lies
And with no
Fake disguise

And I read your expression
Appalled
In your beauty
Secure and smug
As you gaze
With your botox
And fillers

And ridiculous lips
Disturbed

By this
Ugly
Old
Face

And I hope you can feel
That I don't shy away
That I'm proud of my face
In the harsh light of day
Every wrinkle
Deserving
It's place

I
Wear
It
With
Pride
So grateful am I
To be granted the grace
Of long life

To have lived long in age
Through sorrows
And loves
Through
Time
Space
And
Place
With such hunger

And in truth
My young friend
It is you that I pity
Caught
In
Your
Shallowest
Youth

So I stand
Queen
Before you
Head high and crowned
Marked with the passions
Of time

Strong true and proud
And bestowed
With God's grace
To have acquired
And earned
My
Own
Unique
Face

This beautiful
Ugly
Old
Face.
Marion Price(2020)